Audio data packet status determination

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods to determine the status of transmitted audio packets. The audio packets can include digital components that are presented by a client computing device. Based on presentation variables and determinations of presentation status, the system can generate a predictive model that can be used to dynamically determines presentation values of audio packets prior to their transmission to a client computing device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority as a continuing-in-part under 35U.S.C. §120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/091,323, filed Apr.5, 2016, which claims priority as a continuing patent application under35 U.S.C. §120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/916,407, filedJun. 12, 2013. This application also claims the benefit and priorityunder 35 U.S.C. §120 as a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/395,682, filed Dec. 30, 2016. The contents ofthe foregoing applications are herein incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND

In a networked environment, such as the Internet or other networks,first-party content providers can provide information for publicpresentation on resources, for example web pages, documents,applications, and/or other resources. The first-party content caninclude information provided by the first-party content providers via,for example, a resource server for presentation on a user device overthe Internet. Additional third-party content can also be provided byservice provider devices for presentation on the user device togetherwith the first-party content provided by the first-party contentproviders. Thus, a person viewing a resource can access the first-partycontent that is the subject of the resource, as well as the third-partycontent that may or may not be related to the subject matter of theresource.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect of the disclosure, a system to determine datastatus includes a data processing system that can include a memory andone or more processors. The data processing system can transmit, to afirst client computing device, a first audio signal that can include adigital component. The data processing system can determine apresentation status of the digital component within the first audiosignal. The presentation status can indicate whether the digitalcomponent was presented via the first client computing device. The dataprocessing system can receive, from the first client computing device,first presentation variables. The data processing system can generate apresentation probability predictive model based on the presentationstatus of the digital component, the first presentation variables, and adata set that can include prior presentation statuses and priorpresentation variables determined for a plurality of client computingdevices previously served an audio signal. The data processing systemcan receive, from the first client computing device, a request andsecond presentation variables. The data processing system can determinea presentation value for each of a plurality of candidate digitalcomponents based on the second presentation variables and thepresentation probability predictive model. The data processing systemcan select a second digital component from the plurality of candidatedigital components for transmission to the first client computing devicewithin a second audio signal responsive a ranking of the presentationvalues for each of the plurality of candidate digital components.

According to another aspect of the disclosure can include a method todetermine data status. The method can include transmitting, to a firstclient computing device, a first audio signal that can include a digitalcomponent. The method can include determining a presentation status ofthe digital component within the first audio signal. The presentationstatus can indicate whether the digital component was presented via thefirst client computing device. The method can include receiving, fromthe first client computing device, first presentation variables. Themethod can include generating a presentation probability predictivemodel based on the presentation status of the digital component, thefirst presentation variables, and a data set comprising priorpresentation statuses and prior presentation variables determined for aplurality of client computing devices previously served an audio signal.The method can include receiving, from the first client computingdevice, a request and second presentation variables. The method caninclude determining a presentation value for each of a plurality ofcandidate digital components based on the second presentation variablesand the presentation probability predictive model. The method caninclude selecting a second digital component from the plurality ofcandidate digital components for transmission to the first clientcomputing device within a second audio signal responsive a ranking ofthe presentation values for each of the plurality of candidate digitalcomponents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The details of one or more implementations are set forth in theaccompanying drawings and the description below. Other features,aspects, and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent from thedescription, the drawings, and the claims, in which:

FIG. 1A is an overview depicting an example of a system for providinginformation via a network;

FIG. 1B depicts a system to optimize processing of sequence dependentoperations in a voice activated computer network environment;

FIG. 2 is an overview depicting an example content item selectionsystem;

FIG. 3 is an overview depicting an example resource having severalcontent item slots;

FIG. 4 is an overview depicting another example resource on a mobileuser device having several content item slots;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of an example process for generating a viewprobability predictive model based on view data and selecting andserving content items based on a view probability;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an example process for selecting and servingcontent items based on a view probability from a received viewprobability predictive model;

FIG. 7 is another flow diagram of another example process for selectingand serving content items based on a view probability and outputting animpression cost if data received by the content item selection systemindicates that the selected content item was viewed;

FIG. 8A is another flow diagram of an example process for generating aview probability predictive model using a script associated with aserved content item;

FIG. 8B illustrates a flow diagram of an example method to determinedata status; and

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a general architecture for acomputer system that may be employed to implement various elements ofthe systems and methods described and illustrated herein.

It will be recognized that some or all of the figures are schematicrepresentations for purposes of illustration. The figures are providedfor the purpose of illustrating one or more embodiments with theexplicit understanding that they will not be used to limit the scope orthe meaning of the claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Following below are more detailed descriptions of various conceptsrelated to, and implementations of, methods, apparatuses, and systemsfor providing information on a computer network. The various conceptsintroduced above and discussed in greater detail below may beimplemented in any of numerous ways, as the described concepts are notlimited to any particular manner of implementation. Examples of specificimplementations and applications are provided primarily for illustrativepurposes.

Systems and methods of the present disclosure relate generally to a dataprocessing system that optimizes or dynamically adjusts an order ofprocessing sequence dependent operations via data packet basedtransmissions in a voice activated computer network environment. Thedata processing system can improve the efficiency and effectiveness ofdata packet transmission over one or more computer networks by, forexample, asynchronously, out-of-sequence, or dynamically selectingoperations from a plurality of sequence dependent operations. Datapackets or other protocol based signals corresponding to the selectedoperations can be routed through a computer network between multiplecomputing devices. The data processing system can temporarily orpermanently skip initial operations of a set of sequence dependentoperations and can instead proceed to an operation that corresponds to alater-in-time or final operation. By bypassing packet or other protocolbased data transmissions that correspond to an early operation of aplurality of sequence dependent operations, and instead proceedingdirectly to packet or other protocol based data transmissions for laterstage operations in a sequence of operations the data processing systemcan reduce, delay, or eliminate data processing associated with theearly stage operations. This saves processing power and other computingresources such as memory, reduces electrical power consumption by thedata processing system and the reduced data transmissions via thecomputer network reduces bandwidth requirements and usage of the dataprocessing system.

The systems and methods described herein can include a data processingsystem that receives an input audio query. From the input audio querythe data processing system can identify a request and a trigger keywordcorresponding to the request. Based on the trigger keyword or therequest, the data processing system can determine a thread thatindicates a plurality of sequence dependent operations. For example, thethread can indicate a first action, a second action that is subsequentto the first action, and a third action that is subsequent to the secondaction. The third action, which in this example is the last action in athread of sequence dependent operations, can be used by the dataprocessing system to select a content item prior to occurrence of thefirst action and prior to occurrence of the second action. This can bedone before or without performing at least some of the data processingoperations based on the first action or the second action. Bypassingthese processing operations causes the content item for the third actionto be selected with less data processing and less electrical power usagethan would be the case without the bypass.

The content item can include an output signal. The content item caninclude a digital component. In some implementations, the content itemis a digital component. In other implementations, the content item is acomponent of the digital component. The data processing system canprovide the content item including the output signal by packet or otherprotocol based data message transmission via a computer network to aclient computing device. The output signal can cause an audio drivercomponent of the client computing device to generate an acoustic wave,e.g., an audio output, which can be output from the client computingdevice. The audio output corresponds to the third (e.g., last or latestin time) action and can by output from the client computing device priorto occurrence of the first action or prior to occurrence of the secondaction. The bypassing of the first and second actions (or the bypassingof selecting and providing content items corresponding to these actions)to first select and send the content item corresponding to the thirdaction prior to occurrence of the first and second sequence dependentactions results in fewer data processing operations, less memory usage,and less network bandwidth utilization than would be the case withoutthe bypass.

A computing device (e.g., a user device) can view a resource, such as aweb page, via the Internet by communicating with a server, such as a webpage server, corresponding to that resource. The resource includesfirst-party content that is the subject of the resource from afirst-party content provider, as well as additional third-party providedcontent, such as advertisements or other content. In one implementation,responsive to receiving a request to access a web page, a web pageserver and/or a user device can communicate with a data processingsystem, such as a content item selection system, to request a contentitem to be presented with the requested web page. The content itemselection system can select a third-party content item and provide datato effect presentation of the content item with the requested web pageon a display of the user device. In some instances, the content item isselected and served with a resource associated with a search queryresponse. For example, a search engine may return search results on asearch results web page and may include third-party content itemsrelated to the search query in one or more content item slots of thesearch results web page.

In some instances, a device identifier is associated with the userdevice. The device identifier may include a randomized number associatedwith the user device to identify the device during subsequent requestsfor resources and/or content items. In some instances, the deviceidentifier is configured to store and/or cause the user device totransmit information related to the user device to the content itemselection system and/or resource server (e.g., a web browser type, anoperating system, prior resource requests, prior content item requests,etc.).

In situations in which the systems discussed here collect personalinformation about users, or may make use of personal information, theusers may be provided with an opportunity to control whether programs orfeatures collect user information (e.g., information about a user'ssocial network, social actions or activities, profession, a user'spreferences, or a user's current location), or to control whether and/orhow to receive content from the content server that may be more relevantto the user. In addition, certain data may be treated in one or moreways before it is stored or used, so that personally identifiableinformation is removed. For example, a user's identity may be treated sothat no personally identifiable information can be determined for theuser, or a user's geographic location may be generalized where locationinformation is obtained (such as to a city, ZIP code, or state level),so that a particular location of a user cannot be determined. Thus, theuser may have control over how information is collected about the userand used by a content server.

A service provider device, when providing third-party content items forpresentation with requested resources via the Internet or other network,may utilize a content item management service to control or otherwiseinfluence the selection and serving of the third-party content items.For instance, a service provider device may specify selection criteria(such as keywords) and corresponding bid values that are used in theselection of the third-party content items. The bid values may beutilized by the content item selection system in an auction to selectand serve content items for display with a resource. For example, aservice provider device may place a bid in the auction that correspondsto an agreement to pay a certain amount of money if a user interactswith the provider's content item (e.g., the provider agrees to pay $3 ifa user clicks on the provider's content item). In other examples, aservice provider device may place a bid in the auction that correspondsto an agreement to pay a certain amount of money if the content item isselected and served (e.g., the provider agrees to pay $0.005 each time acontent item is selected and served). In some instances, the contentitem selection system uses content item interaction data to determinethe performance of the service provider device's content items. Forexample, users may be more inclined to click on third-party contentitems on certain web pages over others. Accordingly, auction bids toplace the third-party content items may be higher for high-performingweb pages, categories of web pages, and/or other criteria, while thebids may be lower for low-performing web pages, categories of web pages,and/or other criteria.

In some instances, a web page or other resource (such as, for example,an application) includes one or more content item slots in which aselected and served third-party content item may be displayed. The code(e.g., JavaScript®, HTML, etc.) defining a content item slot for a webpage or other resource may include instructions to request a third-partycontent item from the content item selection system to be displayed withthe web page.

The selected and served content item displayed in a content item slotfor the web page or other resource may not be within a viewable regionof a display of a user device. For example, a web page may includeadditional content, including third-party content items in content itemslots, which is not visible when the web page is initially displayed ona display of a user device. Such additional content, includingthird-party content items, may not be visible based on a variety ofvisibility variables. For example, a height of a web browser window, awidth of a web browser window, a type of user device, a display type ofa user device, dimensions of the display, a display resolution, a textsize setting of the web browser of the user device, a font setting ofthe web browser, a zoom setting of the web browser, a dimension of oneor more toolbar portions of the web browser, a dimension of one or morenavigation and address portions of the web browser, a dimension of oneor more bookmark portions of the web browser, a dimension of one or moretab portions of the web browser, a number of tabs open in the webbrowser, a dimension of a scroll bar of the web browser, a position ofthe content item slot in the web page, a type of web browser, whetherthird-party content item blocking services are implemented, and/or anyother variable associated with the visibility of the additional content.In some instances, a user interacts with the user device to cause theadditional content, including the third-party content items displayed inthe content item slots, to become visible, such as through the use of aninput device to scroll along the web page (e.g., via a mouse, touchscreen, microphone, or other input device). In other instances, the usermay navigate away from the web page without the additional contentbecoming visible.

During an auction for a content item slot for a resource, such as a webpage, several different types of bid values may be utilized by serviceprovider devices for various third-party content items. For example, anauction may include bids based on whether a user clicks on thethird-party content item, whether a user performs a specific actionbased on the presentation of the third-party content item, whether thethird-party content item is selected and served, and/or other types ofbids. For example, a bid based on whether the third-party content itemis selected and served may be a lower bid (e.g., $0.005) while a bidbased on whether a user performs a specific action may be a higher bid(e.g., $5). In some instances, the bid may be adjusted to account forthe probability associated with the bid. For example, the probability ofthe user performing the specific action may be low, such as 0.2%, whilethe probability of the selected and served third-party content item maybe 100% (e.g., the selected and served content item will occur if it isselected during the auction, so the bid is unadjusted). Accordingly, avalue may be generated to be used in the auction based on the bid valueand the probability or other modifying value associated with the bid. Inthe prior example, the value for the bid based on whether thethird-party content item is selected and served is $0.005*1.00=0.005 andthe value for the bid based on whether a user performs a specific actionis $5*0.002=0.01. To maximize the income generated, the content itemselection system may select the third-party content item with thehighest value from the auction. Thus, the content item selection systemmay select the content item associated with the bid based on whether theuser performs the specific action.

In instances where service provider device places a bid based on whetherthe third-party content item is selected and served, the serviceprovider device may pay or be billed for the selected and servedthird-party content item regardless of whether the served third-partycontent item is within a viewable region of a display of a user deviceto be viewed by a user or not. Thus, in some instances, a serviceprovider device may pay or be billed for selected and served contentitems that are not seen by a user (for example, the content item may beserved in a content item slot on a lower portion of a web page and theuser may not scroll down far enough for the content item to be visible).A service provider device may prefer to bid on and/or pay forthird-party content items that are viewed by a user (e.g., are within aviewable region of a display of a user device).

The content item selection system may permit a service provider deviceto submit bids based on whether a content item is viewed and may includea view probability prediction model that outputs a view probability thata selected and served content item will be viewed by a user. The viewprobability is a probability that a selected and served content item ora portion thereof will be displayed in a viewable region of a display ofa user device (e.g., visible on the screen of a user device).

The view probability prediction model may be generated based on priordata for whether a content item was viewed and one or more viewabilityvariables. The viewability variables may be based on characteristics ofthe user device (e.g., a type of user device, a display type of a userdevice, dimensions of the display), characteristics of a web browserexecuted on the user device (e.g., a type of web browser), settingsassociated with the user device (e.g., a display resolution, whetherthird-party content item blocking services are implemented), settingsassociated with the web browser executed on the user device (e.g., aheight of a web browser window, a width of a web browser window, a textsize setting of the web browser of the user device, a font setting ofthe web browser, a zoom setting of the web browser, a dimension of oneor more toolbar portions of the web browser, a dimension of one or morenavigation and address portions of the web browser, a dimension of oneor more bookmark portions of the web browser, a dimension of one or moretab portions of the web browser, a number of tabs open in the webbrowser, a dimension of a scroll bar of the web browser, formulaederived from dimensions of a web browser window and/or location of anarea where a content item may be shown), and/or characteristics of theresource with which the content item is to be presented (e.g., aposition of the content item slot in the resource, a category of theresource, a type of the resource, an interactivity level of theresource, a ranking of the resource, a popularity of the resource,dimensions of an area where a content item may be shown, part or all ofan address of the resource).

The content item selection system receives one or more currentviewability variables for a content item slot of a resource for anauction to select and serve a third-party content item for that contentitem slot. The one or more current viewability variables may similarlyinclude characteristics of the user device (e.g., a type of user device,a display type of a user device, dimensions of the display),characteristics of a web browser executed on the user device (e.g., atype of web browser), settings associated with the user device (e.g., adisplay resolution, whether third-party content item blocking servicesare implemented), settings associated with the web browser executed onthe user device (e.g., a height of a web browser window, a width of aweb browser window, a text size setting of the web browser of the userdevice, a font setting of the web browser, a zoom setting of the webbrowser, a dimension of one or more toolbar portions of the web browser,a dimension of one or more navigation and address portions of the webbrowser, a dimension of one or more bookmark portions of the webbrowser, a dimension of one or more tab portions of the web browser, anumber of tabs open in the web browser, a dimension of a scroll bar ofthe web browser, formulae derived from dimensions of a web browserwindow and/or location of an area where a content item may be shown),and/or characteristics of the resource with which the content item is tobe presented (e.g., a position of the content item slot in the resource,a category of the resource, a type of the resource, an interactivitylevel of the resource, a ranking of the resource, a popularity of theresource, dimensions of an area where a content item may be shown, partor all of an address of the resource).

The one or more current viewability variables are input into the viewprobability predictive model to determine a view probability. A bid isdetermined based on the view probability of a content item output by theview probability predictive model for the auction. The values associatedwith each content item in the auction may be compared and the highestvalue is selected. Data to effect display of the selected content itemmay be output to the user device such that the selected content item maybe shown on a display of the user device.

A script may be included with the data to effect display of the selectedcontent item. The script may be configured to send data to the contentitem selection system and/or another system in response to an indicationthat the content item was viewed (e.g., displayed in a viewable regionof a display of a user device). The content item selection system and/oranother system may then bill the service provider device for the viewedcontent item.

In some instances, the data indicating that the content item was viewedand the received current viewability variables may be utilized tofurther update and refine the view probability predictive model.

While the foregoing has provided an overview of a content item selectionsystem that permits the use of a bid based on whether a content item isviewed and a view probability predictive model, more specific examplesand systems to implement such a system will now be described.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram of an example system 100 for providinginformation via at least one computer network such as the network 106.The network 106 may include a local area network (LAN), wide areanetwork (WAN), a telephone network, such as the Public SwitchedTelephone Network (PSTN), a wireless link, an intranet, the Internet, orcombinations thereof. The system 100 can also include at least one dataprocessing system or processing module, such as a content item selectionsystem 108. The content item selection system 108 can include at leastone logic device, such as a computing device having a data processor, tocommunicate via the network 106, for example with a service providerdevice 104, a client computing device 110, and/or a content providerdevice 102. The content provider device can also be referred to as athird-party content server. The service provider device can also bereferred to as a resource server. The content item selection system 108can include one or more data processors, such as a content placementprocessor, configured to execute instructions stored in a memory deviceto perform one or more operations described herein. In other words, theone or more data processors and the memory device of the content itemselection system 108 may form a processing module. The processor mayinclude a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), etc., or combinationsthereof. The memory may include, but is not limited to, electronic,optical, magnetic, or any other storage or transmission device capableof providing processor with program instructions. The memory may includea floppy disk, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatiledisc (DVD), magnetic disk, memory chip, read-only memory (ROM),random-access memory (RAM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-OnlyMemory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), flashmemory, optical media, or any other suitable memory from which processorcan read instructions. The instructions may include code from anysuitable computer programming language such as, but not limited to, C,C++, C#, Java®, JavaScript®, Perl®, HTML, XML, Python®, and VisualBasic®. The processing module may process instructions and output datato effect presentation of one or more content items to the serviceprovider device 104 and/or the client computing device 110. In additionto the processing circuit, the content item selection system 108 mayinclude one or more databases configured to store data. The content itemselection system 108 may also include an interface configured to receivedata via the network 106 and to provide data from the content itemselection system 108 to any of the other devices on the network 106. Thecontent item selection system 108 can include a server, such as anadvertisement server or otherwise.

The client computing device 110 can include one or more devices such asa computer, laptop, desktop, smart phone, tablet, personal digitalassistant, set-top box for a television set, a smart television, orserver device configured to communicate with other devices via thenetwork 106. The device may be any form of portable electronic devicethat includes a data processor and a memory, i.e., a processing module.The memory may store machine instructions that, when executed by aprocessor, cause the processor to perform one or more of the operationsdescribed herein. The memory may also store data to effect presentationof one or more resources, content items, etc. on the computing device.The processor may include a microprocessor, an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), etc.,or combinations thereof. The memory may include, but is not limited to,electronic, optical, magnetic, or any other storage or transmissiondevice capable of providing processor with program instructions. Thememory may include a floppy disk, compact disc read-only memory(CD-ROM), digital versatile disc (DVD), magnetic disk, memory chip,read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), ElectricallyErasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), erasable programmableread only memory (EPROM), flash memory, optical media, or any othersuitable memory from which processor can read instructions. Theinstructions may include code from any suitable computer programminglanguage such as, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java®, JavaScript®,Perl®, HTML, XML, Python®, and Visual Basic®.

The client computing device 110 can execute a software application(e.g., a web browser or other application) to retrieve content fromother computing devices over network 106. Such an application may beconfigured to retrieve first-party content from a service providerdevice 104. In some cases, an application running on the clientcomputing device 110 may itself be first-party content (e.g., a game, amedia player, etc.). In one example, the client computing device 110 mayexecute a web browser application which provides a browser window on adisplay of the user device. The web browser application that providesthe browser window may operate by receiving input of a uniform resourcelocator (URL), such as a web address, from an input device (e.g., apointing device, a keyboard, a touch screen, or another form of inputdevice). In response, one or more processors of the user deviceexecuting the instructions from the web browser application may requestdata from another device connected to the network 106 referred to by theURL address (e.g., a service provider device 104). The other device maythen provide web page data and/or other data to the client computingdevice 110, which causes visual indicia to be displayed by the displayof the client computing device 110. Accordingly, the browser windowdisplays the retrieved first-party content, such as web pages fromvarious websites, to facilitate user interaction with the first partycontent.

The service provider device 104 can include a computing device, such asa server, configured to host a resource, such as a web page or otherresource (e.g., articles, comment threads, music, video, graphics,search results, information feeds, etc.). The service provider device104 may be a computer server (e.g., a file transfer protocol (FTP)server, file sharing server, web server, etc.) or a combination ofservers (e.g., a data center, a cloud computing platform, etc.). Theservice provider device 104 can provide resource data or other content(e.g., text documents, PDF files, and other forms of electronicdocuments) to the client computing device 110. In one implementation,the client computing device 110 can access the service provider device104 via the network 106 to request data to effect presentation of aresource of the service provider device 104.

One or more service provider devices may have content provider device102 to directly or indirectly provide data for third-party content itemsto the content item selection system 108 and/or to other computingdevices via network 106. The content items may be in any format that maybe presented on a display of a client computing device 110, for example,graphical, text, image, audio, video, etc. The content items may also bea combination (hybrid) of the formats. The content items may be bannercontent items, interstitial content items, pop-up content items, richmedia content items, hybrid content items, etc. The content items mayalso include embedded information such as hyperlinks, metadata, links,machine-executable instructions, annotations, etc. In some instances,the content provider device 102 may be integrated into the content itemselection system 108 and/or the data for the third-party content itemsmay be stored in a database of the content item selection system 108.

In one implementation, the content item selection system 108 canreceive, via the network 106, a request for a content item to presentwith a resource. The received request may be received from a serviceprovider device 104, a client computing device 110, and/or any othercomputing device. The service provider device 104 may be owned or ran bya first-party content provider that may include instructions for thecontent item selection system 108 to provide third-party content itemswith one or more resources of the first-party content provider on theservice provider device 104. In one implementation, the resource mayinclude a web page. The client computing device 110 may be a computingdevice operated by a user (represented by a device identifier), which,when accessing a resource of the service provider device 104, can make arequest to the content item selection system 108 for content items to bepresented with the resource, for instance. The content item request caninclude requesting device information (e.g., a web browser type, anoperating system type, one or more previous resource requests from therequesting device, one or more previous content items received by therequesting device, a language setting for the requesting device, ageographical location of the requesting device, a time of a day at therequesting device, a day of a week at the requesting device, a day of amonth at the requesting device, a day of a year at the requestingdevice, a type of user device, a display type of a user device,dimensions of the display, a display resolution, whether third-partycontent item blocking services are implemented, a height of a webbrowser window, a width of a web browser window, a text size setting ofthe web browser of the user device, a font setting of the web browser, azoom setting of the web browser, a dimension of one or more toolbarportions of the web browser, a dimension of one or more navigation andaddress portions of the web browser, a dimension of one or more bookmarkportions of the web browser, a dimension of one or more tab portions ofthe web browser, a number of tabs open in the web browser, a dimensionof a scroll bar of the web browser, etc.) and resource information(e.g., URL of the requested resource, one or more keywords of thecontent of the requested resource, text of the content of the resource,a title of the resource, a position of the content item slot in theresource, a category of the resource, a type of the resource, aninteractivity level of the resource, a ranking of the resource, apopularity of the resource, etc.). The information that the content itemselection system 108 receives can include a HyperText Transfer Protocol(HTTP) cookie which contains a device identifier (e.g., a random number)that represents the client computing device 110. In someimplementations, the device information and/or the resource informationmay be appended to a content item request URL (e.g.,http://contentitem.item/page/contentitem?devid=abc123&devnfo=A34r0). Therequesting device information and/or the resource information may beutilized by the content item selection system 108 to select third-partycontent items to be served with the requested resource and presented ona display of a client computing device 110.

In some instances, a resource of a service provider device 104 mayinclude a search engine feature. The search engine feature may receive asearch query (e.g., a string of text) via an input feature (an inputtext box, etc.). The search engine may search an index of documents(e.g., other resources, such as web pages, etc.) for relevant searchresults based on the search query. The search results may be transmittedas a second resource to present the relevant search results, such as asearch result web page, on a display of a client computing device 110.The search results may include web page titles, hyperlinks, etc. One ormore third-party content items may also be presented with the searchresults in a content item slot of the search result web page.Accordingly, the service provider device 104 and/or the client computingdevice 110 may request one or more content items from the content itemselection system 108 to be presented in the content item slot of thesearch result web page. The content item request may include additionalinformation, such as the user device information, the resourceinformation, a quantity of content items, a format for the contentitems, the search query string, keywords of the search query string,information related to the query (e.g., geographic location informationand/or temporal information), etc. In some implementations, adelineation may be made between the search results and the third-partycontent items to avert confusion.

In some implementations, the service provider device may manage theselection and serving of content items by content item selection system108. For example, the service provider device may set bid values and/orselection criteria via a user interface that may include one or morecontent item conditions or constraints regarding the serving of contentitems. A service provider device may specify that a content item and/ora set of content items should be selected and served for clientcomputing devices 110 having device identifiers associated with acertain geographic location or region, a certain language, a certainoperating system, a certain web browser, etc. In another example, theservice provider device may specify that a content item or set ofcontent items should be selected and served when the resource, such as aweb page, document, etc., contains content that matches or is related tocertain keywords, phrases, etc. The service provider device may set asingle bid value for several content items, set bid values for subsetsof content items, and/or set bid values for each content item. Theservice provider device may also set the types of bid values, such asbids based on whether a user clicks on the third-party content item,whether a user performs a specific action based on the presentation ofthe third-party content item, whether the third-party content item isselected and served, and/or other types of bids.

FIG. 1B depicts an example system 100 to optimize processing of sequencedependent operations in a voice activated data packet (or otherprotocol) based computer network environment. The system 100 can includeat least one data processing system 112. The data processing system 112can be a component of the content item selection system 108. In otherimplementations, the content item selection system 108 can be acomponent of the data processing system 112. The data processing system112 can include at least one server having at least one processor. Forexample, the data processing system 112 can include a plurality ofservers located in at least one data center or server farm. The dataprocessing system 112 can determine, from an audio input signal arequest and a trigger keyword associated with the request. Based on therequest and trigger keyword the data processing system 112 can determineor select a thread than includes a plurality of sequence dependentoperations, and can select content items (and initiate other actions asdescribed herein) in an order that does not match the sequence ofdependent operations, for example as part of a voice activatedcommunication or planning system. The content items can include one ormore audio files that when rendered provide an audio output or acousticwave. The content items can include other content (e.g., text, video, orimage content) in addition to or instead of audio content. For example,the content items can include text or image files, or combinationsthereof, that do not include audio files and that do not render audiooutput.

The data processing system 112 can include multiple, logically-groupedservers and facilitate distributed computing techniques. The logicalgroup of servers may be referred to as a data center, server farm or amachine farm. The servers can be geographically dispersed. A data centeror machine farm may be administered as a single entity, or the machinefarm can include a plurality of machine farms. The servers within eachmachine farm can be heterogeneous—one or more of the servers or machinescan operate according to one or more type of operating system platform.The data processing system 112 can include servers in a data center thatare stored in one or more high-density rack systems, along withassociated storage systems, located for example in an enterprise datacenter. The data processing system 112 with consolidated servers in thisway can improve system manageability, data security, the physicalsecurity of the system, and system performance by locating servers andhigh performance storage systems on localized high performance networks.Centralization of all or some of the data processing system 112components, including servers and storage systems, and coupling themwith advanced system management tools allows more efficient use ofserver resources, which saves power and processing requirements andreduces bandwidth usage.

The data processing system 112 can include at least one natural languageprocessor (NLP) component 118, at least one interface 117, at least oneprediction component 115, at least one content selector component 114,at least one audio signal generator component 122, at least one directaction application programming interface (API) 135, at least one sessionhandler component 119, and at least one data repository 123. The NLPcomponent 118, interface 117, prediction component 115, content selectorcomponent 114, audio signal generator component 122, direct action API120, and session handler component 119 can each include at least oneprocessing unit, server, virtual server, circuit, engine, agent,appliance, or other logic device such as programmable logic arraysconfigured to communicate with the data repository 123 and with othercomputing devices (e.g., the client computing device 110, the contentprovider computing device 102, or the service provider computing device104) via the at least one computer network 106. The network 106 caninclude computer networks such as the internet, local, wide, metro orother area networks, intranets, satellite networks, other computernetworks such as voice or data mobile phone communication networks, andcombinations thereof.

The network 106 can include or constitute a display network, e.g., asubset of information resources available on the internet that areassociated with a content placement or search engine results system, orthat are eligible to include third party content items as part of acontent item placement campaign. The network 106 can be used by the dataprocessing system 112 to access information resources such as web pages,web sites, domain names, or uniform resource locators that can bepresented, output, rendered, or displayed by the client computing device110. For example, via the network 106 a user of the client computingdevice 110 can access information or data provided by the contentprovider computing device 102 or the service provider computing device104.

The network 106 can include, for example a point-to-point network, abroadcast network, a wide area network, a local area network, atelecommunications network, a data communication network, a computernetwork, an ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) network, a SONET(Synchronous Optical Network) network, a SDH (Synchronous DigitalHierarchy) network, a wireless network or a wireline network, andcombinations thereof. The network 106 can include a wireless link, suchas an infrared channel or satellite band. The topology of the network106 may include a bus, star, or ring network topology. The network 106can include mobile telephone networks using any protocol or protocolsused to communicate among mobile devices, including advanced mobilephone protocol (“AMPS”), time division multiple access (“TDMA”),code-division multiple access (“CDMA”), global system for mobilecommunication (“GSM”), general packet radio services (“GPRS”) oruniversal mobile telecommunications system (“UMTS”). Different types ofdata may be transmitted via different protocols, or the same types ofdata may be transmitted via different protocols.

The client computing device 110, the content provider computing device102, and the service provider computing device 104 can each include atleast one logic device such as a computing device having a processor tocommunicate with each other or with the data processing system 112 viathe network 106. The client computing device 110, the content providercomputing device 102, and the service provider computing device 104 caneach include at least one server, processor or memory, or a plurality ofcomputation resources or servers located in at least one data center.The client computing device 110, the content provider computing device102, and the service provider computing device 104 can each include atleast one computing device such as a desktop computer, laptop, tablet,personal digital assistant, smartphone, portable computer, server, thinclient computer, virtual server, or other computing device.

The client computing device 110 can include at least one sensor 128, atleast one transducer 129, at least one audio driver 130, and at leastone speaker 131. The sensor 128 can include a microphone or audio inputsensor. The transducer 129 can convert the audio input into anelectronic signal. The audio driver 130 can include a script or programexecuted by one or more processors of the client computing device 110 tocontrol the sensor 128, the transducer 129 or the audio driver 130,among other components of the client computing device 110 to processaudio input or provide audio output. The speaker 131 can transmit theaudio output signal.

The client computing device 110 can be associated with an end user thatenters voice queries as audio input into the client computing device 110(via the sensor 128) and receives audio output in the form of acomputer-generated voice that can be provided from the data processingsystem 112 (or the content provider computing device 102 or the serviceprovider computing device 104) to the client computing device 110,output from the speaker 131. The computer-generated voice can includerecordings from a real person or computer generated language.

The content provider computing device 102 can provide audio basedcontent items for display by the client computing device 110 as an audiooutput content item. The content item can include an offer for a good orservice, such as a voice based message that states: “Would you like meto order you a taxi?” For example, the content provider computing device102 can include memory to store a series of audio content items that canbe provided in response to a voice based query. The content providercomputing device 102 can also provide audio based content items (orother content items) to the data processing system 112 where they can bestored in the data repository 123. The data processing system 112 canselect the audio content items and provide (or instruct the contentprovider computing device 102 to provide) the audio content items to theclient computing device 110. The audio based content items can beexclusively audio or can be combined with text, image, or video data.

The service provider computing device 104 can include at least oneservice provider natural language processor (NLP) component 132 and atleast one service provider interface 133. The service provider NLPcomponent 132 (or other components such as a direct action API of theservice provider computing device 104) can engage with the clientcomputing device 110 (via the data processing system 112 or bypassingthe data processing system 112) to create a back-and-forth real-timevoice or audio based conversation (e.g., a session) between the clientcomputing device 110 and the service provider computing device 104. Forexample, the service provider interface 133 can receive or provide datamessages to the direct action API 120 of the data processing system 112.The service provider computing device 104 and the content providercomputing device 102 can be associated with the same entity. Forexample, the content provider computing device 102 can create, store, ormake available content items for a car sharing service, and the serviceprovider computing device 104 can establish a session with the clientcomputing device 110 to arrange for a delivery of a taxi or car of thecar share service to pick up the end user of the client computing device110. The data processing system 112, via the direct action API 120, theNLP component 118 or other components can also establish the sessionwith the client computing device, including or bypassing the serviceprovider computing device 104, to arrange for example for a delivery ofa taxi or car of the car share service.

The data repository 123 can include one or more local or distributeddatabases, and can include a database management system. The datarepository 123 can include computer data storage or memory and can storeone or more parameters 124, one or more policies 125, content data 126,or templates 127 among other data. The parameters 124, policies 125, andtemplates 127 can include information such as rules about a voice basedsession between the client computing device 110 and the data processingsystem 112 (or the service provider computing device 104). The contentdata 126 can include content items for audio output or associatedmetadata, as well as input audio messages that can be part of one ormore communication sessions with the client computing device 110.

The system 100 can optimize processing of sequence dependent operationsin a voice activated data packet (or other protocol) environment. Forexample, the data processing system 112 can include or be part of avoice activated assistant service, voice command device, intelligentpersonal assistant, knowledge navigator, event planning, or otherassistant program. The data processing system 112 can provide one ormore instances of audio output for display from the client computingdevice 110 to accomplish tasks related to this input audio signal. Thetasks can include, for example, communicating with the service providercomputing device 104 or other third party computing devices to makedinner reservations or purchase movie tickets. For example, an end usercan enter an input audio signal into the client computing device 110 of:“OK, I would like to go to go dinner and then a movie tonight.”

The sequence dependent operations can include a number of actions thatoccur in a known, suggested, required, or particular order. For example,going from home to a movie theater, then back home can include threesequence dependent operations or actions. The first action in thisexample includes travelling from home to the movie theater. The secondaction includes watching the movie in the theater. The third actionincludes returning home from the theater. In this example, the secondaction in the sequence (watching the movie) is subsequent to anddependent on the first action (going out to dinner), and the thirdaction (returning home) is subsequent to and dependent on the firstaction and the second action. The third action can be consideredsubsequent to and dependent on the second action, as having expressed anintent to do so, the data processing system 112 predicts that the enduser would watch the movie in the theater before returning home as well.

The data processing system 112 can include an application, script orprogram installed at the client computing device 110, such as an app tocommunicate input audio signals to the interface 117 of the dataprocessing system 112 and to drive components of the client computingdevice to render output audio signals. The data processing system 112can receive data packets or other signal that includes or identifies anaudio input signal. For example, the data processing system 112 canexecute or run the NLP component 118 to receive the audio input signal.

The NLP component 118 can convert the audio input signal into recognizedtext by comparing the input signal against a stored, representative setof audio waveforms (e.g., in the data repository 123) and choosing theclosest matches. The representative waveforms are generated across alarge set of users, and can be augmented with speech samples. After theaudio signal is converted into recognized text, the NLP component 118can match the text to words that are associated, for example viatraining across users or through manual specification, with actions thatthe data processing system 112 can serve.

The audio input signal can be detected by the sensor 128 (e.g., amicrophone) of the client computing device. Via the transducer 129, theaudio driver 130, or other components the client computing device 110can provide the audio input signal to the data processing system 112(e.g., via the network 106) where it can be received (e.g., by theinterface 117) and provided to the NLP component 118 or stored in thedata repository 123 as content data 126.

The NLP component 118 can obtain the input audio signal. From the inputaudio signal, the NLP component 118 can identify at least one request orat least one trigger keyword corresponding to the request. The requestcan indicate intent or subject matter of the input audio signal. Thetrigger keyword can indicate a type of action likely to be taken. Forexample, the NLP component 118 can parse the input audio signal toidentify at least one request to leave home for the evening to attenddinner and a movie. The trigger keyword can include at least one word,phrase, root or partial word, or derivative indicating an action to betaken. For example, the trigger keyword “go” or “to go to” from theinput audio signal can indicate a need for transport. In this example,the input audio signal (or the identified request) does not directlyexpress an intent for transport, however the trigger keyword indicatesthat transport is an ancillary action to at least one other action thatis indicated by the request.

The prediction component 115 (or other mechanism of the data processingsystem 112) can determine, based on the request or the trigger keyword,at least one thread associated with the input audio signal. The threadcan indicate a set of sequence dependent operations, such as a series ofactions. The thread can include any two or more actions, such as a firstaction, a second action, and a third action. For example, the inputaudio signal “OK, I would like to go to go dinner and then a movietonight” can include at least one request indicating an interest toattend dinner and a movie, and at least one trigger keyword, e.g., “go”indicating a need for transportation. The prediction component 115 canidentify a thread with at least three actions, such as a dinner action(first action), a movie action (second action), and a transportationhome action (third action). In this example, from the request or thetrigger keyword the prediction component 115 predicts, estimates, orotherwise determine the three actions. The thread can include otheractions, such as an initial transport to dinner action.

The data processing system 112 or component thereof such as theprediction component 115 can determine that the actions of the threadare sequence dependent operations. For example, the prediction componentcan determine that the second action of watching the movie is subsequentto the first action of eating dinner, and that the third action oftravelling home from the movie theater is after the second action ofwatching the movie. The prediction component 115 can access theparameters 124 or policies 125 in the data repository 123 to determineor otherwise estimate the order of the sequence dependent actions. Forexample, the parameters 124 or policies 125 could indicate that atransport action (e.g., a taxi home) can occur after an event action(e.g., watching a movie).

The content selector component 114 can obtain indications of any of theactions of the thread. For example, the prediction component 115 candirectly or indirectly (e.g., via the data repository 123) provide anindication of the third (or any other) action to the content selectorcomponent 114. The content selector component 114 can obtain thisinformation from the data repository 123, where it can be stored as partof the content data 126. The indication of the third action can informthe content selector component 114 of a need for transportation from thelocation of the movie theater to a location as determined or indicatedby the client computing device 110, such as a ride to an enddestination.

The prediction component 115 can generate presentation probabilitypredictive models (also referred to as probability predictive models) asdescribed herein. The probability predictive model can output theprobability that a digital component is presented and then viewed by theuser of a client computing device. The probability can be the that apredetermined portion of the digital component is presented to the user.The portion can be between about 50% and about 100%, between about 60%and about 100%, or between about 75% and about 100% of the digitalcomponent. A predetermined portion of the digital component may not bepresented to the user after the digital component is transmitted to theclient computing device because the user can terminate the presentationof the digital component. The predictive model can be based on priordate from the presentation of digital components to client computingdevice. The prior data can include viewability variables that can bebased on characteristics of the client computing device (e.g., thedevice type (a mobile phone, a voice controlled assistant device, etc.)of the client computing device), characteristics of settings associatedwith the client computing device, or setting set by the user of theclient computing device. The predictive model can be updated. As digitalcomponents are presented to additional client computing device, the datareceived from the presentation of the digital components can beincorporated into the probability predictive model.

The content selector component 114 can obtain indications of a lateraction in the thread prior to the occurrence of at least one earlieraction. For example, the content selector component 114 can receive anindication of the third action (e.g., a need for a ride from the movietheater) before the movie plays in the theater (second action), orbefore the person who input the input audio signal into the clientcomputing device 110 eats dinner at the restaurant (first action). Thecontent selector component 114 can obtain indications of at least oneaction of the thread before completion of at least one action of thethread.

From the information received by the content selector component 114,e.g., an indication of the third action before occurrence of at leastone prior action in the sequence dependent thread, the content selectorcomponent 114 can identify at least one content item. The content itemcan be responsive or related to the third action. For example, thecontent item can include an audio message offering services of a carshare company, responsive to the third action that indicates atransportation need. The content selector component 114 can query thedata repository 123 to select or otherwise identify the content item,e.g., from the content data 126. The content selector component 114 canalso select the content item from the content provider computing device102. For example, responsive to a query received from the dataprocessing system 112, the content provider computing device 102 canprovide a content item to the data processing system 112 (or componentthereof) for eventual output by the client computing device 110.

The audio signal generator component 122 can generate or otherwiseobtain an output signal that includes the content item responsive to thethird action. For example, the data processing system 112 can executethe audio signal generator component to generate or create an outputsignal corresponding to the content item. The interface 117 of the dataprocessing system 112 can provide transmit one or more data packets thatinclude the output signal via the computer network 106 to the clientcomputing device 110. The interface 117 can be designed, configured,constructed, or operational to receive and transmit information using,for example, data packets. The interface 117 can receive and transmitinformation using one or more protocols, such as a network protocol. Theinterface 117 can include a hardware interface, software interface,wired interface, or wireless interface. The interface 117 can facilitatetranslating or formatting data from one format to another format. Forexample, the interface 117 can include an application programminginterface that includes definitions for communicating between variouscomponents, such as software components of the system 100.

For example, the data processing system 112 can provide the outputsignal from the data repository 123 or from the audio signal generatorcomponent 122 to the client computing device 110. The data processingsystem 112 can also instruct, via data packet transmissions, the contentprovider computing device 102 or the service provider computing device104 to provide the output signal to the client computing device 110. Theoutput signal can be obtained, generated, transformed to or transmittedas one or more data packets (or other communications protocol) from thedata processing system 112 (or other computing device) to the clientcomputing device 110.

In this example, the content selector component 114 skips to a later(e.g., third) action in a set of sequence dependent operations to selecta content item for the third action prior to occurrence (and prior to animmediate need) for activity corresponding to the third action. Byskipping to a later sequenced action, the data processing system 112 isnot required to process information related to the first action or thesecond action to select content items for those actions. This reducesprocessor utilization, power consumption and bandwidth from datatransmissions that would otherwise be associated with selecting acontent item (for the first action) or a content item (for the secondaction) prior to selecting the content item for the third action.

The content selector component 114 can select the content item for the(subsequent or later) third action as part of a real-time contentselection process. For example, the content item can be provided to theclient computing device for transmission as audio output in aconversational manner in direct response to the input audio signal. Thereal-time content selection process to identify the content item andprovide the content item to the client computing device 110 can occurwithin one minute or less from the time of the input audio signal and beconsidered real-time.

The output signal that corresponds to the content item, for exampleobtained or generated by the audio signal generator component 122transmitted via the interface 117 and the computer network 106 to theclient computing device 110, can cause the client computing device 110to execute the audio driver 130 to drive the speaker 131 to generate anacoustic wave corresponding to the output signal. The acoustic wave caninclude words of or corresponding to the content item for the thirdaction. The output signal that corresponds to the content item can alsoinclude non-audio content items that render on the client computingdevice 110 that is the source of the input audio signal or on adifferent client computing device 110 (e.g., a wearable device computingdevice) as text or image messages that can render without audioelements.

The acoustic wave can be output from the client computing device 110before the occurrence of the first action or the second action. Forexample, the acoustic wave can include the audio output of “Would youlike a taxi waiting for you after the movie?” In this example, the dataprocessing system 112 obtains the input audio signal of, for example,“OK, I would like to go to go dinner and then a movie tonight.” Fromthis information, the NLP component 118 identifies at least one requestor at least one trigger keyword, and the prediction component 115 usesthe request(s) or trigger keyword(s) to identify at least one thread.The thread includes a series of sequence dependent actions, e.g., afirst dinner action, a second movie action, and a third transport homeaction. The prediction component 115 can determine (e.g., with at leasta threshold level of confidence such as 75% confident) that theseactions will occur in sequential order, where the end user of the clientcomputing device 110 will first eat dinner, then after dinner go to amovie, then after dinner take transportation home or away from the movietheater. The content selector component 114 can, for example, bypassprocessing associated with content item selection for the first actionand the second action and instead first select a content item for thethird action, e.g., a content item for a car share service to arrangefor transport with a pick-up location of the movie theater. The dataprocessing system 112 or component thereof such as the audio signalgenerator component 122 can provide the content item for the thirdaction to the client computing device 110. The acoustic wave can beoutput from the client computing device 110 subsequent to the occurrenceof the first action and before the occurrence of the second action,e.g., between prior actions in the thread.

The content item for the third item can render at least in part as anaudio output from the client computing device 110 before the firstaction or the second action has occurred. For example, the output signalthat includes the content item for the third action can render as ahuman or automated voice that states “Would you like a ride home fromthe movie theater?” The data processing system 112 can receive aresponse to the content item for the third action prior to occurrence ofone, more than one, or all of the prior actions in the ordered sequenceof actions. For example, the data processing system 112 can provide thecontent item for rendering and receive a response, e.g., via theinterface 117, before the end user has gone to dinner or before the enduser has watched the movie. The data processing system 112 can providethe output signal that includes the content item in direct or real-timeresponse to the input audio signal of “OK, I would like to go to godinner and then a movie tonight” so that the packet based datatransmissions via the computer network 106 that are part of acommunication session between the data processing system 112 and theclient computing device 110 has the flow and feel of a real-time personto person conversation. This packet based data transmissioncommunication session can also include the content provider computingdevice 102 or the service provider computing device 104.

The content selector component 114 can select content items provided inresponse to the third (or any non-first) action in the sequencedependent set of actions before selecting any content item for any prioraction in the sequence. This avoids the need to process at least some ofthe data corresponding to the prior actions, which causes the thirdcontent item to be selected with a reduced number of processingoperations than would occur if the content items were selected in anorder that matches the order of the sequence of actions. Content itemsfor the prior (e.g., first and second) actions may or may not beselected, for example after selection of the content item for the thirdaction.

The content selector component 114 can select the content item (e.g.,for the third action) based on at least one trigger keyword of thethread that indicates subject matter different than subject matter ofthe one or more requests of the same thread. For example, the requestsof the thread responsive to “OK, I would like to go to go dinner andthen a movie tonight” can indicate subject matter of a dinner request(first action), and subject matter of a movie request (second action).This subject matter does not indicate any transportation request.However, the NLP component 118 or the prediction component 115 (or otherdata processing system 112 components executing as part of the directaction API 120) can identify the trigger keyword “go” “go to” or “to goto” and can determine a transportation request (third action) based atleast in part on the trigger keyword. Thus, the data processing system112 can infer actions from the input audio signal that are secondaryrequests that are not the primary request or subject of the input audiosignal.

The data processing system 112 can prevent or delay transmission of theoutput signal that includes the content item. For example, the interface117 or a script executing via the direct action API 120 can preventtransmission of data packets that include the output signalcorresponding to the content item until a triggering event. Thetriggering event can include expiration of a pre-determined time period,such as two hours or a time coinciding with occurrence of an earlieraction in the thread, such as a scheduled end time of a movie. Thetriggering event can also include an authorization indication receivedby the data processing system 112 from the client computing device 110.The authorization indication can originate as a subsequent audio inputassociated with the thread but received by the data processing systemsubsequent to the input audio signal, a text-based or other non-audiblesignal, or can include an indication of a setting of the clientcomputing device 110 that authorizes receipt by the client computingdevice 110 of content items.

The data processing system 112 can also delay transmission of thecontent item associated with a second or subsequent to second action ofthe thread to optimize processing utilization. For example, the dataprocessing system 112 can delay content item transmission until anoff-peak or non-peak period of data center usage, which results in moreefficient utilization of the data center by reducing peak bandwidthusage, heat output or cooling requirements. The data processing system112 can also initiate a conversion or other activity associated with thecontent item, such as ordering a car service, based on data centerutilization rates or bandwidth metrics or requirements of the network106 or of a data center that includes the data processing system 112.

The content items can correspond to the actions of the thread, and thecontent selector component 114 can select a content item for one, morethan one, or all actions of the thread. The prediction component 115 canidentify the sequence dependent thread of actions of, for example,“dinner” (first action) “movie” (second action) and “transport frommovie location” (third action). The direct action API 120 can executeprograms or scripts, for example from the NLP component 118, theprediction component 115, or the content selector component 114 toidentify content items for one or more of these actions. The directaction API 120 can execute a specified action to satisfy the end user'sintention, as determined by the data processing system 112. Depending onthe action specified in its inputs, the direct action API 120 canexecute code or a dialog script that identifies the parameters requiredto fulfill a user request. Such code can look up additional information,e.g., in the data repository 123, such as the name of a home automationservice, or it can provide audio output for rendering at the clientcomputing device 110 to ask the end user questions such as the intendeddestination of a requested taxi. The direct action API 120 can determinenecessary parameters and can package the information into an action datastructure, which can then be sent to another component such as thecontent selector component 114 or to the service provider computingdevice 104 to be fulfilled.

The direct action API 120 of the data processing system 112 cangenerate, based on the request or the trigger keyword, data structuresfor the actions of the thread. The action data structures can begenerated responsive to the request. The action data structure can beincluded in the messages that are transmitted to or received by theservice provider computing device 104. Based on the request parsed bythe NLP component 118, the direct action API 120 can determine to whichof a plurality of service provider computing devices 104 the messageshould be sent. For example, if an input audio signal includes “order ataxi,” the NLP component 118 can identify the trigger word “order” andthe request for a taxi. The direct action API 120 can package therequest into an action data structure for transmission as a message to aservice provider computing device 104 of a taxi service. The message canalso be passed to the content selector component 114. The action datastructure can include information for completing the request. In thisexample, the information can include a pick up location and adestination location. The direct action API 120 can retrieve a template127 from the repository 123 to determine which fields to include in theaction data structure. The direct action API 120 can retrieve contentfrom the repository 123 to obtain information for the fields of the datastructure. The direct action API 120 can populate the fields from thetemplate with that information to generate the data structure. Thedirect action API 120 can also populate the fields with data from theinput audio signal. The templates 127 can be standardized for categoriesof service providers or can be standardized for specific serviceproviders. For example, ride sharing service providers can use thefollowing standardized template 127 to create the data structure:{client_device_identifier; authentication_credentials; pick_up_location;destination_location; no_passengers; service_level}.

For example, the content item for the third action can be provided forrendering at the client computing device 110 as an audio response thatstates “Would you like a ride home from the movie theater?” in responseto the audio input signal. Subsequent or prior to this rendering, thedata processing system 112 can select or provide a content item, e.g.,“the Italian restaurant downtown has an opening for 7 pm tonight?” forthe first action (dinner), and can select or provide another contentitem, e.g., “would you like tickets to the 9 pm movie at the downtowntheater?” for the second action (movie). The data processing system 112can provide (which includes instructing the content provider computingdevice 102 to provide) these content items responsive to the input audiosignal for rendering by the client computing device 110 as audio outputcontent items. The data processing system 112, via the interface 117,can select or provide these content items in any order to the clientcomputing device 110. For example, the content item for the third (e.g.,last) action can be selected or provided first, before content itemscorresponding to other, earlier actions of the thread.

The data processing system 112 can receive a response to the contentitem “would you like a ride home from the movie theater?” The responsecan include an input audio signal, e.g., “yes please” that was enteredinto the client computing device 110 by the end user and received by thedata processing system 112. Based on this response, the direct actionAPI 120 can communicate with the service provider computing device 104(that can be associated with the content item, such as a car sharecompany) to order a taxi or ride share vehicle for the location of themovie theater at the time the movie ends. The data processing system 112can obtain this location or time information as part of the data packet(or other protocol) based data message communication with the clientcomputing device 110, from the data repository 123, or from othersources such as the service provider computing device 104 or the contentprovider computing device 102. Confirmation of this order (or otherconversion) can be provided as an audio communication from the dataprocessing system 112 to the client computing device 110 in the form ofan output signal from the data processing system 112 that drives theclient computing device 110 to render audio output such as, “great, youwill have a car waiting for you at 11 pm outside the theater.” The dataprocessing system 112, via the direct action API 120, can communicatewith the service provider computing device 104 to confirm the order forthe car.

The data processing system 112 can obtain the response (e.g., “yesplease”) to the content item (“would you like a ride home from the movietheater?”) and can route a packet based data message to the serviceprovider NPL component 132 (or other component of the service providercomputing device). This packet based data message can cause the serviceprovider computing device 104 to effect a conversion, e.g., to make acar pick up reservation outside the movie theater. This conversion—orconfirmed order—(or any other conversion of any other action of thethread) can occur prior to completion of one or more actions of thethread, such as prior to completion of the movie, as well as subsequentto completion of one or more actions of the thread, such as subsequentto dinner.

Based on a response to a content item for a subsequent action in thethread, such as the response “yes please” to the content item “would youlike a ride home from the movie theater” for the third and last actionin a sequence dependent thread, the data processing system 112 caninitiate a conversion or action. This can occur before the end user hasbegun any activities associated with the thread, e.g., before dinner orbefore the movie is over. Processors of the data processing system 112can invoke the direct action API 120 to execute scripts that order a carfrom a car share service. The direct action API 120 can obtain contentdata 126 (or parameters 124 or policies 125) from the data repository123, as well as data received with end user consent from the clientcomputing device 110 to determine location, time, user accounts,logistical or other information in order to reserve a car from the carshare service. Using the direct action API 120, the data processingsystem 112 can also communicate with the service provider computingdevice 104 to complete the conversion by in this example making the carshare pick up reservation.

The direct action API 120 can initiate the conversion or activity toaccomplish an action of the thread at any time during a time period fromreceipt by the data processing system 112 of the first input audiosignal associated with the thread, (e.g., “OK, I would like to go to godinner and then a movie tonight”) until a threshold time periodsubsequent to completion of one of the actions of the thread, (e.g.,until 15 minutes after the end of the second action of watching themovie). The data processing system 112 can also determine the end ofthis time period based on other factors, such as an indication that theend user has completed the actions of the thread, e.g., has returnedhome or is no longer located at the movie theater. The data processingsystem 112 can also obtain an indication from the client computingdevice 110 (a data message transmitted via the network 106) that thethread is cancelled or dormant or that the end user has cancelled orcompleted actions of the thread.

The direct action API 120 can initiate the conversion or activity toaccomplish an action of the thread based on completion or time ofcompletion of other actions of the thread. For example, the dataprocessing system 112 can order a good or service (car share pick-up)directly or by communicating with the service provider computing device104 within a threshold time period of a conclusion of a prior action inthe thread. Within 5 minutes (or other time period) prior or subsequentto the scheduled or actual conclusion of the movie (second action), thedata processing system 112 can confirm or order a car share service tosend a car to pick up the end user at the movie theater (subsequent,third action). This can occur in the absence of input received from theend user computing device 110 during this time period, or responsive toa prompt received from the end user computing device 110 during thistime period.

The direct action API 120 can initiate the conversions or other activityassociated with the sequence dependent operations of the thread in anyorder. For example, the direct action API 120 (or other data processingsystem 112 component) can initiate activity corresponding to a finalaction (e.g., the third action in a three action thread such as orderinga taxi) prior to initiating activity corresponding to an earlier threadin the sequence, (e.g., prior to making a dinner reservation or prior toordering movie tickets). In this example, the data processing system 112initiates activity for an earlier (e.g., second) action subsequent toinitiation of activity for the later (e.g., third) action.

The content selector component 114 can identify, select, or obtainmultiple content items resulting from a multiple content selectionprocesses. The content selection processes can be real-time, e.g., partof the same conversation, communication session, or series ofcommunications sessions between the data processing system 112 and theclient computing device 110 that involve a thread. The conversation caninclude asynchronous communications separated from one another by aperiod of hours or days, for example. The conversation or communicationsession can last for a time period from receipt of the first input audiosignal until an estimated or known conclusion of a final action of thethread, receipt by the data processing system 112 of an indication of atermination of the thread. This can be referred to as the active timeperiod of the thread. For example, for a thread with three actions(e.g., dinner, move, and transport home), the content selector component114 can select at least one content item for each action. The contentitem selector component 114 can run or obtain results from a differentcontent selection process for each action. In the content selectionprocesses the content provider computing device 110 can set forthcontent items for selection by the content selector component 114. For athread with at least three actions, the content item selector componentcan select or otherwise identify a first content item for the firstaction via a first content selection process, a second content item forthe second action via a second content selection process, and a thirdcontent item for the third action via a third content selection process.The data processing system 112 that provides these content items forrendering by the client computing device 110 during the active timeperiod of the thread can be considered to be operating in real-time. Inthis example, the content selection processes and rendering of thecontent items occurs in real time.

The data processing system 112 can cancel actions associated withcontent items. For example, after ordering the car service the end usermay watch the movie but then decide to walk home, or to have desertafter the movie instead of taking a car home. An app or other programexecuting at the client computing device 110 as part of the dataprocessing system 112 can receive an input audio signal of “cancel myride home”. The NLP component 118 can receive this input audio signal,for example as one or more packet based data messages, and can determinethat this input audio signal relates to a pre-existing thread (e.g.,dinner, movie, transport home) and is part of the same conversation orcommunication. For example, the NLP component 118 (or other dataprocessing system 112 component) can evaluate time data, location dataand pre-existing thread data such as past, present, or scheduled actionsof a thread from the content data 126 of the data repository 123 todetermine that an input audio signal relates to a pre-existing thread.Based, for example, on the request “ride” or the trigger keyword“cancel” the NLP component 118 can determine that the input audio signal“cancel my ride home” relates to the content item “would you like a ridehome from the movie theater?” that corresponds to the third action of apre-existing thread. The direct action API 120 (or other component) cancause the data processing system 112 to communicate via the interface117 with the service provider computing device 104 to cancel the orderfor the taxi or car share service to have a car waiting for the end useroutside the movie theater upon conclusion of the movie.

The NLP component 120 can receive the data packet or other protocolbased message to cancel an action of the thread prior to or subsequentto completion of any action of the thread. The NLP component 120 canreceive from the client computing device 110 (or obtain from the datarepository 123) a data message (inbound audio signal) to cancel anaction of the thread within a time interval triggered by an earlieraction of the thread. For example, in a sequence dependent thread withthree actions, dinner, movie, transport, the data processing system 112can receive the transport cancellation data message within 5 minutes (orother time period) of the conclusion of the movie. The data processingsystem 112 can prompt for confirmation of a product or service relatedto an action of the thread. For example, during a time period betweenthe first action and the second action (e.g., after dinner and beforethe movie) the data processing system 112 can transmit a data message tothe client computing device 110 that, when rendered at the clientcomputing device 110 outputs the audio or text message stating “justconfirming that you still want a car waiting for you after the movie.”The data processing system 112 can receive a response, e.g., “yes,confirmed” or “no, cancel the car”. The direct action API 120 canexecute scripts to process this information and can communicate with theservice provider computing device 104 to indicate the confirmation orthe cancellation.

Referring now to FIG. 2, portions of the content item selection system108 are shown in more detail. In the present example, the content itemselection system 108 includes a content item selection module 150, aviewability database 160, a content item database 170, an impressioncost database 180, and a view database 190. The content item selectionmodule 150 includes a view probability prediction module 152. While thepresent example depicts the viewability database 160, the content itemdatabase 170, the impression cost database 180, and the view database190 as separate databases, it should be understood that the databasesmay be combined into a single database or sets of databases (e.g., theview database 190 may be a part of the viewability database 160).

The content item selection module 150 is configured to receive a contentitem request 202 via the network 106. A user device, such as clientcomputing device 110 of FIG. 1A, or a resource server, such as serviceprovider device 104, may send the content item request 202 to thecontent item selection system 108 via the network 106. The content itemrequest 202 may include one or more current viewability variables. Theone or more current viewability variables may be based oncharacteristics of the user device (e.g., a type of user device, adisplay type of a user device, dimensions of the display),characteristics of a web browser executed on the user device (e.g., atype of web browser), settings associated with the user device (e.g., adisplay resolution, whether third-party content item blocking servicesare implemented), settings associated with the web browser executed onthe user device (e.g., a height of a web browser window, a width of aweb browser window, a text size setting of the web browser of the userdevice, a font setting of the web browser, a zoom setting of the webbrowser, a dimension of one or more toolbar portions of the web browser,a dimension of one or more navigation and address portions of the webbrowser, a dimension of one or more bookmark portions of the webbrowser, a dimension of one or more tab portions of the web browser, anumber of tabs open in the web browser, a dimension of a scroll bar ofthe web browser, formulae derived from dimensions of a web browserwindow and/or location of an area where a content item may be shown),and/or characteristics of the resource with which the content item is tobe presented (e.g., a position of the content item slot in the resource,a category of the resource, a type of the resource, an interactivitylevel of the resource, a ranking of the resource, a popularity of theresource, dimensions of an area where a content item may be shown, partor all of an address of the resource). In some implementations, thecurrent viewability variables associated with the requesting deviceand/or the resource may be appended to a content item request URL (e.g.,http://contentitem.item/page/contentitem?devid=abc123&devnfo=A34r0).

The current viewability variables for the content item request 202 arereceived by the view probability prediction module 152 and used with aview probability predictive model to output a view probability (e.g., avalue between 0 and 1) that a served third-party content item will beviewed given the set of current viewability variables. The currentviewability variables may be received with the content item request 202(e.g., a script or function of the resource may output the currentviewability variables as part of the content item request 202, such asappended to the content item request URL) or may be retrieved when thecontent item request 202 is initially received (e.g., by calling ascript or function to output the current viewability variables). Thereceived current viewability variables may be stored in the viewabilitydatabase 160 and may be associated with a unique identifier, such as aunique identifier for the content item request 202. As will be discussedherein, the stored current viewability variables may be associated withdata indicative of whether the served content item is viewed on adisplay of a device to update and refine a view probability predictivemodel.

In some implementations, the content item selection module 150 is alsoconfigured to retrieve or receive a view probability prediction modelfrom the viewability database 160 for the view probability predictionmodule 152. The view probability prediction module 152 is configured todetermine a view probability based on the view probability predictionmodel and the current viewability variables. That is, the viewprobability prediction module 152 inputs the current viewabilityvariables into the view probability prediction model and generates aview probability as an output.

In some other implementations, the content item selection module 150 maybe configured to retrieve or receive view data from the viewabilitydatabase 160 for the view probability prediction module 152. The viewdata includes data about previously served content items that includesdata indicative of whether each previously served content item wasviewed and any viewability variables associated with the previouslyserved content item. The view probability prediction module 152 mayutilize the view data to generate the view probability prediction model.

For example, according to various implementations, the view probabilityprediction module 152 may generate the view probability predictive modelusing logistic regression based on the view data, as will be describedin greater detail herein.

The output from the view probability predictive model is received by thecontent item selection module 150 and utilized with one or more bidsassociated with third party content items. For example, an estimatedcost per mille viewable (eCPMV) may be calculated for each third-partycontent item by eCPMV=VP*CPMV, where VP is the view probability and CPMVis the cost per mille viewable (CPMV) bid associated with thethird-party content item. The content item selection module 150 isconfigured to perform an auction to select a content item, as will bediscussed in greater detail below.

An impression cost (IC) associated with the selected content item isdetermined by the content item selection module 150 and is stored in theimpression cost database 180. In one example, the impression cost isstored in a record or log of the impression cost database 180. Theimpression cost may be associated with a unique identifier, such as aunique identifier for the content item request 202, such that theimpression cost may be matched with data in the view database 190 if theselected content item is viewed, as will be described below. Theimpression cost may be determined by

${{IC} = \frac{{eCPMV}_{{runner} - {up}}}{1000*{VP}}},$

where eCPMV runner-up is the next highest eCPMV value. The impressioncost may be billed or charged to the service provider device only if theserved content item is viewed, as will be described in greater detailherein.

The content item selection module 150 is configured to retrieve theselected content item from the content item database 170 to be sent inresponse to the content item request 202. The content item selectionmodule 150 includes or associates a script with the selected contentitem. For example, the script may be a JavaScript® script that can beembedded in the data to effect presentation of the selected content itemor the script may simply be associated with the selected content itemand sent with the data to effect presentation of the selected contentitem. The script is configured to immediately output data 206 toindicate if the served content item is viewed on a display of a device,such as the client computing device 110. The data 206 may include onlydata indicating that the served content item is viewed on a display of adevice or the data 206 may also include the current viewabilityvariables or other data. In some instances, the data 206 may beassociated with a unique identifier, such as that for the content itemrequest 202. The determination of whether the served content item isviewed will be described in greater detail in reference to FIGS. 3 and4. In some implementations, the script may be configured to directlydetermine whether the served content item is viewed. In otherimplementations, the script may receive input from another script thatmonitors a viewable region with respect to the displayed resource andserved content item.

The outputted data 206 may be stored in a record or log of the viewdatabase 190 and/or the viewability database 160. In implementationswhere the data 206 includes the data indicative of whether the servedcontent item is viewed on a display of a device, the data 206 may bestored in view database 160 and may also be matched with thecorresponding viewability variables in the viewability database 160(e.g., by matching the unique identifiers) and stored with the currentviewability variables in the viewability database 160. The data 206stored in the view database 190 may be matched (on-demand, periodically,etc.) with the stored impression costs in the impression cost database180 to determine which served content items and associated impressioncosts were viewed. The matching of the data 206 can indicate whether theserved content item was viewed on a display of a device and the storedimpression costs may be utilized such that a service provider device isonly billed or charged for served content items that were viewed, aswill be described in greater detail herein. In some implementations, theimpression cost database 180 and view database 190 may be part ofanother system and the content item selection system 108 may transmitthe impression cost data and/or the data 206 to the other system.

FIG. 3 depicts an example display 300 (shown in phantom) of a userdevice, such as client computing device 110 of FIG. 1A, with a webbrowser 310 for displaying resources on the display 300. The web browser310 includes a window 312 having a dimensional height and dimensionalwidth. The dimensional height and/or dimensional width of the window 312for the web browser 310 may be adjusted by a user (e.g., by clicking anddragging to resize the window). The web browser 310 of the presentexample also includes a toolbar portion 314, a navigation and addressportion 316, a bookmark portion 318, a tab portion 320, and a scroll bar322. The web browser 310 may operate by receiving input of a URL in theaddress bar of the navigation and address portion 316, such as a webaddress, from an input device (e.g., a pointing device, a keyboard, atouch screen, or another form of input device). In response, one or moreprocessors of a user device executing the instructions from the webbrowser 310 may request data from another device connected to a network,such as network 106, referred to by the URL address (e.g., a serviceprovider device 104). The other device may then provide web page dataand/or other data to the user device, which causes visual indicia to bedisplayed by the display of the user device. Accordingly, the webbrowser 310 displays a retrieved resource 330, such as a web page.

In the present example, the web browser 310 includes a viewable region340 (shown in phantom) in which the resource 330 and/or portions thereofmay be displayed. A variety of variables may affect the size of theviewable region 340. For example, the variables that may affect the sizeof the viewable region 340 may include characteristics of the userdevice (e.g., a type of user device, a display type of a user device,dimensions of the display), characteristics of the web browser 310executed on the user device (e.g., a type of web browser), settingsassociated with the user device (e.g., a display resolution, whetherthird-party content item blocking services are implemented), and/orsettings associated with the web browser 310 executed on the user device(e.g., the height of the window 312 of the web browser 310, the width ofthe window 312 of the web browser 310, a text size setting of the webbrowser 310, a font setting of the web browser 310, a zoom setting ofthe web browser 310, a dimension of one or more toolbar portions 314 ofthe web browser 310, a dimension of one or more navigation and addressportions 316 of the web browser 310, a dimension of one or more bookmarkportions 318 of the web browser 310, a dimension of one or more tabportions 320 of the web browser 310, a number of tabs open in the webbrowser 310, a dimension of a scroll bar 322 of the web browser 310). Byway of example, a viewable region 340 may be large for a large displaywith a high display resolution, a large height and width for the window312 of the web browser 310 with small dimensions for the toolbar portion314, the navigation and address portion 316, the bookmark portion 318,the tab portion 320, and the scroll bar 322. Conversely, the viewableregion 340 may be smaller for a small display with a low displayresolution, a small height and width for the window 312 of the webbrowser 310 and large dimensions for several toolbar portions 314, thenavigation and address portion 316, the bookmark portion 318, the tabportion 320, and the scroll bar 322. In some instances, one or more ofthe toolbar portion 314, the navigation and address portion 316, thebookmark portion 318, the tab portion 320, and the scroll bar 322 may beomitted. In addition, it should be understood that several toolbars maybe installed on the user device for the toolbar portion 314.

An example resource 330 is shown displayed by the display 300 of theuser device in the viewable region 340 of the web browser 310. Theresource 330 includes a first party content portion 332, a first contentitem slot 334, a second content item slot 336, and a third content itemslot 338. In the present example, the first content item slot 334 isshown completely within the viewable region 340 while the first partycontent portion 332 and the second content item slot 336 are partiallyshown in the viewable region 340. The third content item slot 338 is notshown within the viewable region 340.

The determination of whether a served content item is viewed may bebased upon data indicating that at least a predetermined percentage ofthe pixels of the served content item are visible within the viewableregion 340. The predetermined percentage may be from 0% of the pixels to100% of the pixels, inclusive. For example, the predetermined percentagemay be 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%,70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, etc. In the present example, thepredetermined percentage is 50%. In some implementations, the serviceprovider device may select the predetermined percentage to be used. Asshown in FIG. 3, a served content item in the first content item slot334 may be determined to be viewed as 100% of the pixels of the servedcontent item are within the viewable region 340. A content item servedin the second content item slot 336 may be determined to not have beenviewed yet as approximately 40% of the pixels of the served content itemare within the viewable region 340. If, for example, the user utilizesthe scroll bar 322 to scroll down the resource 330 such that at least50% of the pixels are visible within the viewable region 340, then adetermination may be made that a served content item in the secondcontent item slot 336 has been viewed. A content item served in thethird content item slot 338 may be determined to not have been viewedyet as none of the pixels of the served content item are within theviewable region 340. If, for example, the user utilizes the scroll bar322 to scroll down the resource 330 such that at least 50% of the pixelsof the served content item in the third content item slot 338 arevisible within the viewable region 340, then a determination may be madethat a served content item in the third content item slot 338 has beenviewed.

As noted above in reference to FIG. 2, a script may be embedded orassociated with the data to effect presentation of the served contentitems. The script may be configured to immediately output data toindicate if at least 50% of the pixels of the served content item arewithin the viewable region 340. In some implementations, the script maybe configured to directly determine whether the served content item isviewed. In other implementations, the script may receive input fromanother script that monitors a viewable region 340 with respect to thedisplayed resource 330 and the served content item.

In some implementations, the determination that a served content item isviewed may also include a period of time for at least the predeterminedpercentage of the pixels of the served content item to be within theviewable region 340. For example, the period of time may be at least 0.5seconds, 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds, 4 seconds, 5 seconds, etc. Insome implementations, the service provider device may select the periodof time to be used. Thus, if a user rapidly scrolls past a servedcontent item in a content item slot, then the content item may not bedetermined to have been viewed. For example, if 100% of the pixels ofthe served content item are within the viewable region 340 for 0.3seconds and the period of time is 1 second, then the script or otherscript that sends input to the script associated with the served contentitem may determine that the served content item has not been viewed yetand data is not outputted to the content item selection system. In someimplementations, the period of time may be a total period of time andnot a contiguous period of time. Thus, if a served content item isviewed for a total amount of time greater than the period of time, evenif not contiguous, then the served content item may be determined tohave been viewed. For example, if a user scrolls past a served contentitem several times with periods of time that sum above the minimumperiod of time, then the script or other script that sends input to thescript associated with the served content item may determine that theserved content item has been viewed. In other implementations, theperiod of time may be a minimum contiguous period of time.

In some implementations, the determination of whether a served contentitem is viewed may be based upon data indicating that a measurementpixel (e.g., a pixel having a unique identifier or other data toidentify the pixel) is within the viewable region 340. The measurementpixel may be associated with a logo of the served content item, a mainimage or subject of the served content item, text of the content item, alink of the content item, and/or other portions of the content item. Insome instances, the measurement pixel may be positioned at a midpoint ofthe height and width of the served content item. In someimplementations, a service provider device may select a pixel to be ameasurement pixel to be used. In still further implementations, severalmeasurement pixels may be utilized.

In yet other implementations, regions of several pixels of the servedcontent item may be utilized to determine whether the served contentitem is viewed. For example, the pixels of a logo of the served contentitem may be the region of several pixels. Accordingly, if at least apredetermined percentage of the pixels of logo of the served contentitem are visible within the viewable region 340, then the script orother script that sends input to the script associated with the servedcontent item may determine that the served content item has been viewed.The region of several pixels may be a region of pixels corresponding toa main image or subject of the served content item, text of the contentitem, a link of the content item, and/or any other region of pixels ofthe content item. In some implementations, a service provider device mayselect a region of pixels to be used. Of course, still furtherimplementations to determine whether the served content item has beenviewed relative to the viewable region 340 may be used as well.

The characteristics of the resource 330 with which a content item is tobe presented in a content item slot 334, 336, 338 of the resource 330may affect the probability that the select content item will be viewed.For example, a position of the content item slot 334, 336, 338 in theresource 330, a category of the resource 330, a type of the resource330, an interactivity level of the resource 330, a ranking of theresource 330, a popularity of the resource 330, and/or othercharacteristics may affect the probability that a selected content itemis viewed.

According to various implementations, data for the content of theresource 330 may be sent to the content item selection system 108 ofFIGS. 1-2. The content of the resource 330 may be parsed for keywordterms to determine the category of the resource 330. For example, thecontent item selection system 108 may receive or extract keyword termsand determine a category for the resource 330 based on the keywordterms. In general, a category may be a set of words that convey the sameor similar ideas. A word category may be a set of synonyms, according toone embodiment. For example, the text of the resource 330 may includethe word “hotel.” A word category that includes the word “hotel” may beas follows: category_1={inn, hotel, hostel, lodge, motel, public house,spa}

Such a category may be used to identify resources 330 devoted to thesame topic, but use different terminology to do so.

In various implementations, the type of the resource 330 may bedetermined based on the parsed keyword terms. For example, a resource330 containing keyword terms for news may indicate a news article. Inother implementations, the type of the resource 330 may be determinedbased on a structure of the resource 330. For example, the resource 330having a first party content portion 332 having a long vertical textualportion may correspond to an article type of resource 330. In otherinstances, a first party content portion 332 having several images mayindicate and photo album type of resource 330. The type of the resource330 may be useful for the view probability predictive model (e.g., anarticle type of resource may be more likely for a user to scroll throughand read while a photo album may be quickly viewed and navigated awayfrom).

The content item selection system 108 may also determine aninteractivity level of the resource 330 based on the content of theresource 330. For example, a resource 330 having a web based game may bemore interactive than a simple text resource 330. The content itemselection system 108 may determine the interactivity level based on thedata of the resource 330 (e.g., a JavaScript® file for a game or simpletext).

The ranking and/or the popularity of a resource 330 may be retrievedfrom a metrics database or service. In some implementations, the rankingand/or popularity may be based on the traffic a resource receives over aperiod of time, such as traffic over the past hour, day, week, month,years, etc.

The position of the content item slot 334, 336, 338 in the resource 330,the category of the resource 330, the type of the resource 330, theinteractivity level of the resource 330, the ranking of the resource330, the popularity of the resource 330, and/or other characteristics ofthe resource 330 may be used as viewability variables for the viewprobability predictive model described herein.

FIG. 4 depicts a mobile user device 400, such as a smartphone, on whicha resource 430 may be displayed by a display 402 of the user device. Theuser device 400 may utilize a web browser 410 for displaying resourceson the display 402 of the user device 400. The web browser 410 of thepresent example includes a navigation and address portion 412 only,though it should be understood that a toolbar portion, a bookmarkportion, a tab portion, and/or a scroll bar may also be included. Theweb browser 410 may operate by receiving input of a URL in the addressbar of the navigation and address portion 412, such as a web address,from an input device, such as a keyboard displayed on the touch screenin the present example. In response, one or more processors of the userdevice 400 executing the instructions from the web browser 410 mayrequest data from another device connected to a network, such as network106, referred to by the URL address (e.g., a service provider device104). The other device may then provide web page data and/or other datato the user device 400, which causes visual indicia to be displayed bythe display 402 of the user device 400. Accordingly, the web browser 410displays a retrieved resource 430, such as a web page.

The web browser 410 includes a viewable region 440 (shown in phantom) inwhich the resource 430 and/or portions thereof may be displayed. Avariety of variables may affect the size of the viewable region 440. Forexample, the variables that may affect the size of the viewable region340 may include characteristics of the user device 400 (e.g., a type ofuser device, a display type of a user device, dimensions of thedisplay), characteristics of the web browser 410 executed on the userdevice (e.g., a type of web browser), settings associated with the userdevice 400 (e.g., a display resolution, whether third-party content itemblocking services are implemented), and/or settings associated with theweb browser 410 executed on the user device (e.g., the height of the webbrowser 410, the width of the web browser 410, a text size setting ofthe web browser 410, a font setting of the web browser 410, a zoomsetting of the web browser 410, a dimension of one or more toolbarportions of the web browser 410, a dimension of one or more navigationand address portions 412 of the web browser 410, a dimension of one ormore bookmark portions of the web browser 410, a dimension of one ormore tab portions of the web browser 410, a number of tabs open in theweb browser 410, a dimension of a scroll bar of the web browser 410). Byway of example, a viewable region 440 may be large for a large displaywith a high display resolution and a web browser 410 with a smalldimension for the navigation and address portion 412. Conversely, theviewable region 440 may be smaller for a small display with a lowdisplay resolution and a web browser 410 with a large dimension for thenavigation and address portion 412.

An example resource 430 is shown displayed by the display 402 of theuser device 400 in the viewable region 440 of the web browser 410. Theresource 430 includes a first party content portion 432, a first contentitem slot 434, a second content item slot 436, and a third content itemslot 438. In the present example, the first content item slot 434 isshown completely within the viewable region 440 while the first partycontent portion 432 and the second content item slot 436 are partiallyshown in the viewable region 440. The third content item slot 438 is notshown within the viewable region 440.

The determination of whether a served content item is viewed may bebased upon data indicating that at least a predetermined percentage ofthe pixels of the served content item are visible within the viewableregion 440. The predetermined percentage may be from 0% of the pixels to100% of the pixels, inclusive. For example, the predetermined percentagemay be 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%,70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, etc. In the present example, thepredetermined percentage is 50%. In some implementations, the serviceprovider device may select the predetermined percentage to be used. Asshown in FIG. 4, a served content item in the first content item slot434 may be determined to be viewed as 100% of the pixels of the servedcontent item are within the viewable region 440. A content item servedin the second content item slot 436 may also be determined to be viewedas approximately 60% of the pixels of the served content item are withinthe viewable region 440. A content item served in the third content itemslot 438 may be determined to not have been viewed yet as none of thepixels of the served content item are within the viewable region 440.If, for example, the user scrolls along the resource 430, such as byusing a finger to scroll using a touch screen of the user device 400,such that at least 50% of the pixels of the served content item in thethird content item slot 438 are visible within the viewable region 440,then a determination may be made that a served content item in the thirdcontent item slot 438 has been viewed.

As noted above in reference to FIG. 2, a script may be embedded orassociated with the data to effect presentation of the served contentitems. The script may be configured to immediately output data toindicate if at least 50% of the pixels of the served content item arewithin the viewable region 440. In some implementations, the script maybe configured to directly determine whether the served content item isviewed. In other implementations, the script may receive input fromanother script that monitors a viewable region 440 with respect to thedisplayed resource 430 and the served content item.

Of course, any of the implementations described above in reference toFIG. 3 may be utilized with the user device 400 and resource 430 of FIG.4.

FIG. 5 depicts a flow diagram of an example process 500 for generating aview probability predictive model based on view data and selecting andserving content items based on a view probability. The content itemselection system 108 may receive view data (ACT 502) from theviewability database 160. The view data includes data about previouslyserved content items that includes data indicative of whether eachpreviously served content item was viewed and any viewability variablesassociated with the previously served content item. The viewabilityvariables may be based on characteristics of the user device (e.g., atype of user device, a display type of a user device, dimensions of thedisplay), characteristics of a web browser executed on the user device(e.g., a type of web browser), settings associated with the user device(e.g., a display resolution, whether third-party content item blockingservices are implemented), settings associated with the web browserexecuted on the user device (e.g., a height of a web browser window, awidth of a web browser window, a text size setting of the web browser ofthe user device, a font setting of the web browser, a zoom setting ofthe web browser, a dimension of one or more toolbar portions of the webbrowser, a dimension of one or more navigation and address portions ofthe web browser, a dimension of one or more bookmark portions of the webbrowser, a dimension of one or more tab portions of the web browser, anumber of tabs open in the web browser, a dimension of a scroll bar ofthe web browser), and/or characteristics of the resource with which thecontent item is to be presented (e.g., a position of the content itemslot in the resource, a category of the resource, a type of theresource, an interactivity level of the resource, a ranking of theresource, a popularity of the resource).

The content item selection system 108 may generate a view probabilitypredictive model based on the received view data (ACT 504). In someimplementations, the content item selection system 108 may generate theview probability predictive model. In other implementations, the viewprobability prediction module 152 of the content item selection system108 may be utilized to generate the view probability prediction model.According to various implementations, the view probability predictionmodule 152 may generate the view probability predictive model usinglogistic regression based on the received view data. For example,according to various implementations, the view probability predictionmodule 152 may generate the view probability predictive model usinglogistic regression based on the view data. A logistic regressionfunction may be defined as

${f(z)} = {\frac{1}{1 + e^{- z}}.}$

The output, f(z), of the view probability predictive model representsthe view probability (e.g., a value between 0 and 1) that a servedthird-party content item will be viewed given a set of viewabilityvariables. The viewability variables of the received view data maycorrespond to inputs x1 through xk for the equation z=β₀+β₁x₁+β₂x₂+ . .. +β_(k)x_(k) that is input into the logistic regression function. β0 isthe y-axis intercept, xi is an input variable affecting the probabilityoutcome, and β1 through βk are regression coefficients or weights (e.g.,determining how much each variable xi affects the outcome). Variablecoefficients β1, β2, etc. are used to weigh the importance of each inputvariable according to its overall effect on probability output. A largeregression coefficient means that the variable strongly influences theprobability of that outcome, while a near-zero regression coefficientmeans that that variable has little influence on the probability of thatoutcome. In some implementations, the inputs to the model may be crossproducts of input values.

Training of the logistic regression model may be achieved by utilizing acorpus of known results from the received view data, such as the dataindicative of whether each previously served content item was viewed,along with the corresponding viewability variables. According to someimplementations, a comparison between the outputted view probability andthe known results will provide a measurement of error that can be usedto adjust the regression coefficients or weights β1−βk, to minimize theerror. The training may utilize additional data indicative of whethereach previously served content item was viewed and the correspondingviewability variables such that the logistic regression model iscontinually updated to increase the accuracy of the model, as will bedescribed in greater detail herein. Of course, other regression modelsmay be used to generate the view probability predictive model, such aslinear regression, naïve Bayesian, Bayesian linear regression,nonparametric regression, etc. In some implementations, an artificialneural network can be trained using the corpus of known results and thecorresponding viewability variables.

The content item selection system 108 receives a set of currentviewability variables (ACT 506). The set of current viewabilityvariables may be based on characteristics of the user device (e.g., atype of user device, a display type of a user device, dimensions of thedisplay), characteristics of a web browser executed on the user device(e.g., a type of web browser), settings associated with the user device(e.g., a display resolution, whether third-party content item blockingservices are implemented), settings associated with the web browserexecuted on the user device (e.g., a height of a web browser window, awidth of a web browser window, a text size setting of the web browser ofthe user device, a font setting of the web browser, a zoom setting ofthe web browser, a dimension of one or more toolbar portions of the webbrowser, a dimension of one or more navigation and address portions ofthe web browser, a dimension of one or more bookmark portions of the webbrowser, a dimension of one or more tab portions of the web browser, anumber of tabs open in the web browser, a dimension of a scroll bar ofthe web browser), and/or characteristics of the resource with which thecontent item is to be presented (e.g., a position of the content itemslot in the resource, a category of the resource, a type of theresource, an interactivity level of the resource, a ranking of theresource, a popularity of the resource).

The set of current viewability variables may be associated with areceived content item request, such as content item request 202 of FIG.2. For example, the set of current viewability variables may be outputby a script, such as a JavaScript®, of a resource or output in responseto a request to a web browser executed on the user device. In someimplementations, the set of current viewability variables may beappended to a content item request URL (e.g.,http://contentitem.item/page/contentitem?devid=abc123&devnfo=A34r0).

According to some implementations, the set of current viewabilityvariables may be retrieved after the content item request is initiallyreceived (e.g., by calling a script or function to output a set ofcurrent viewability variables in response to receiving the content itemrequest).

The received set of current viewability variables may be stored in theviewability database 160 and may be associated with a unique identifier,such as a unique identifier for the content item request. As will bediscussed herein, the stored set of current viewability variables may beassociated with data indicative of whether the served content item isviewed on a display of a device to update and refine the viewprobability predictive model, according to some implementations.

The content item selection system 108 determines a view probability(e.g., a value between 0 and 1) using the received set of currentviewability variables and the generated view probability predictivemodel (ACT 508). The set of current viewability variables are input intothe view probability predictive model for corresponding inputs x1through xk. In some implementations, if the set of current viewabilityvariables omits a variable for an input of the view probabilitypredictive model, a default value may be input. The default value may bean average value for that variable base on the received view data (ACT502). In other implementations, the default value may be a zero value.

The content item selection system 108 determines a value for a contentitem based on the view probability and a bid associated with the contentitem (ACT 510). For example, the content item selection system 108 maydetermine a value, such as an eCPMV, for each third-party content itemusing the equation eCPMV=VP*CPMV, where VP is the determined viewprobability and CPMV is the CPMV bid associated with the third-partycontent item. The content item selection system 108 may determine valuesfor several content items based on the determined view probability andthe corresponding CPMV bid. In some implementations, the content itemselection system 108 may rank the third-party content items based on thedetermined eCPMV values prior to performing an auction. That is, thethird-party content items having bids based on whether a content item isviewed may be ranked based on the determined eCPMV values.

The content item selection system 108 selects a content item (ACT 512).The content item may be selected based on an auction performed by thecontent item selection system 108. The content item auction includesreceiving service provider device submitted bids for the ability toprovide content items for display with a resource presented on a displayof a user device. The auction may include content items and associatedbids based on whether a user clicks on the third-party content item,whether a user performs a specific action based on the presentation ofthe third-party content item, whether the third-party content item isselected and served, whether the third-party content item is viewed,and/or other types of bids. Values other than the value determined for acontent item based on the view probability and a bid associated with thecontent item (ACT 510) may be determined for the other types of contentitems and associated bids. The content item selection system 108 selectsthe content item having an associated value that is the highest of theseveral values in the auction. By way of example, an auction may bebetween a content item having a bid based on whether the content item isviewed and a content item having a bid based on whether the content itemis clicked. A determined view probability may be high, such as 0.8 (80%)while a predicted click-through-rate may be low, such as 0.05 (5%). If,for example, the bid based on whether the content item is viewed ishigh, such as $1.00, then the resulting determined value may be high,such as $0.80=0.8*$1.00. If the bid based on whether the content item isclicked is low, such as $5.00, then the resulting determined value maybe low, such as $0.25=0.05*$5.00. Accordingly, the content itemselection system 108 selects the content item having the bid based onwhether the content item is viewed. Of course, the foregoing is merelyan example.

The content item selection system 108 outputs data to effect display ofthe selected content item (ACT 514). The content item selection system108 includes or associates a script with the selected content item. Forexample, the script may be a JavaScript® script that can be embedded inthe data to effect presentation of the selected content item or thescript may simply be associated with the selected content item and sentwith the data to effect presentation of the selected content item. Thescript is configured to immediately output data to indicate if theserved content item is viewed on a display of a device. The data mayinclude only data indicating that the served content item is viewed on adisplay of a device or the data may also include the current viewabilityvariables or other data. In some instances, the data may be associatedwith a unique identifier, such as that for the content item request. Insome implementations, the script may be configured to directly determinewhether the served content item is viewed. In other implementations, thescript may receive input from another script that monitors a viewableregion with respect to the displayed resource and served content item.

The script or the other script that monitors the viewable region maydetermine whether the served content item is viewed based on dataindicating that at least a predetermined percentage of the pixels of theserved content item is visible within a viewable region of the device towhich the data to effect display of the selected content item isoutputted, such as that described above in reference to FIG. 3. In someimplementations, the predetermined percentage of the pixels may be from0% to 100%, inclusive. The predetermined percentage may be, for example50% of the pixels. In some implementations, the determination that theserved content item is viewed may also include a period of time for atleast the predetermined percentage of the pixels of the served contentitem to be within the viewable region, such as that described above inreference to FIG. 3. For example, period of time may be at least 0.5seconds, 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds, 4 seconds, 5 seconds, etc. Inone example, the period of time may be 1 second. In someimplementations, the determination of whether the served content item isviewed may be based upon data indicating that a measurement pixel iswithin the viewable region, such as that described above in reference toFIG. 3. In some instances, several measurement pixels may be utilized.In yet other implementations, regions of several pixels of the servedcontent item may be utilized to determine whether the served contentitem is viewed, such as that described above in reference to FIG. 3. Ofcourse, still further implementations to determine whether the servedcontent item has been viewed relative to the viewable region may be usedas well.

The content item selection system 108 receives the data indicatingwhether the selected content item was viewed (ACT 516). In someinstances, the received data may be the data outputted by the scriptindicating that the served content item was viewed. In other instances,the content item selection system 108 may receive data indicating thatthe served content item was not viewed. For example, the content itemselection system 108 may receive data or determine that the servedcontent item was not viewed if a predetermined period of time elapseswithout receiving data indicating that the content item was viewed fromthe script associated with the served content item. The predeterminedperiod of time may be, for example, one hour, two hours, three hours,four hours, eight hours, 24 hours, a week, etc.

In some implementations, the data indicating whether the content itemwas viewed may be matched with the stored current viewability variablesin the viewability database 160 with other data indicating whether othercontent items were viewed or not and the viewability variablesassociated corresponding thereto. The data indicating that the contentitem was viewed may be matched with the stored current viewabilityvariables based on the unique identifier associated with the dataindicating that the content item was viewed received from the script andthe unique identifier associated with the stored current viewabilityvariables. As indicated with the dashed line, the data indicatingwhether the content item was viewed and the stored current viewabilityvariables stored in the viewability database 160 may be included in asubsequent set of view data received by the content item selectionsystem 108 to update and refine the generated view probabilitypredictive model.

FIG. 6 depicts a flow diagram of an example process 600 for selectingand serving content items based on a view probability from a receivedview probability predictive model. The content item selection system 108may receive a view probability predictive model (ACT 602). In someinstances, the view probability predictive model may be generatedoffline and stored in the viewability database 160 to be retrieved bythe content item selection system 108. In some implementations, the viewprobability predictive model may be updated on a periodic basis (e.g.,per hour, per day, per week, per 1,000,000 served content items, etc.).Accordingly, the content item selection system 108 may utilize anothercomputing system to update the view probability predictive model on aless frequent basis (thereby consuming less processing power).

The content item selection system 108 receives a set of currentviewability variables (ACT 604). The set of current viewabilityvariables may be based on characteristics of the user device (e.g., atype of user device, a display type of a user device, dimensions of thedisplay), characteristics of a web browser executed on the user device(e.g., a type of web browser), settings associated with the user device(e.g., a display resolution, whether third-party content item blockingservices are implemented), settings associated with the web browserexecuted on the user device (e.g., a height of a web browser window, awidth of a web browser window, a text size setting of the web browser ofthe user device, a font setting of the web browser, a zoom setting ofthe web browser, a dimension of one or more toolbar portions of the webbrowser, a dimension of one or more navigation and address portions ofthe web browser, a dimension of one or more bookmark portions of the webbrowser, a dimension of one or more tab portions of the web browser, anumber of tabs open in the web browser, a dimension of a scroll bar ofthe web browser), and/or characteristics of the resource with which thecontent item is to be presented (e.g., a position of the content itemslot in the resource, a category of the resource, a type of theresource, an interactivity level of the resource, a ranking of theresource, a popularity of the resource).

The content item selection system 108 determines a view probability(e.g., a value between 0 and 1) using the received set of currentviewability variables and the received view probability predictive model(ACT 606). The content item selection system 108 determines a value fora content item based on the view probability and a bid associated withthe content item (ACT 608). The content item selection system 108selects a content item (ACT 610). The content item selection system 108outputs data to effect display of the selected content item (ACT 612).The content item selection system 108 includes or associates a scriptwith the selected content item. The content item selection system 108receives the data indicating whether the selected content item wasviewed (ACT 614). Steps 604, 606, 608, 610, 612, and 614 may beperformed similarly to steps 506, 508, 510, 512, 514, and 516 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 depicts an example process 700 for selecting and serving contentitems based on a view probability and outputting an impression cost ifdata received by the content item selection system indicates that theselected content item was viewed. The content item selection system 108may receive view data (ACT 702) from the viewability database 160 andmay generate a view probability predictive model based on the receivedview data (ACT 704). The content item selection system 108 receives aset of current viewability variables (ACT 706) and determines a viewprobability (e.g., a value between 0 and 1) using the received set ofcurrent viewability variables and the generated view probabilitypredictive model (ACT 708). The content item selection system 108determines a value for a content item based on the view probability anda bid associated with the content item (ACT 710) and selects a contentitem (ACT 712). Steps 702, 704, 706, 708, 710, and 712 may be performedsimilarly to steps 502, 504, 506, 508, 510, and 512 of FIG. 5.

In the present example, the content item selection system 108 may storean impression cost associated with the selected content item (ACT 714).The impression cost (IC) associated with the selected content item maybe stored in the impression cost database 180. In one example, theimpression cost is stored in a record or log of the impression costdatabase 180. The impression cost may be associated with a uniqueidentifier, such as a unique identifier for the content item request,such that the impression cost may be matched with data in the viewdatabase 190 if the selected content item is viewed. The impression costmay be determined by

${{IC} = \frac{{eCPMV}_{{runner} - {up}}}{1000*{VP}}},$

where eCPMV runner-up is the next highest value for another content itemin the auction in which the content item is selected. As will bedescribed below, the impression cost may be billed or charged to theservice provider device only if the served content item is viewed.

The content item selection system 108 outputs data to effect display ofthe selected content item (ACT 716), including a script that is includedor associated with data to effect display of the selected content item.Step 716 may be performed similarly to step 514 of FIG. 5. The contentitem selection system 108 receives the data indicating whether theselected content item was viewed (ACT 718). Step 718 may be performedsimilarly to step 516 of FIG. 5. In addition, if the content itemselection system receives data indicating that the served content itemwas viewed, then the data may also be stored in the view database 190.In some instances, the data indicating that the served content item wasviewed is associated with a unique identifier. The content itemselection system 108 may match the data indicating that the servedcontent item was viewed stored in the view database 190 with the storedimpression cost stored in the impression cost database 180. Theimpression cost may be outputted if the content item selection system108 determines that there is matching data indicating that the servedcontent item was viewed stored in the view database 190. The impressioncost may be outputted to a billing system such that a service providerdevice is only billed the impression cost if the received data indicatesthat the served content item was viewed.

FIG. 8A depicts an example process 800 for generating a view probabilitypredictive model using a script associated with a served content item.The content item selection system 108 outputs data to effect display ofa content item with a script (ACT 802). For example, the script may be aJavaScript® script that can be embedded in the data to effectpresentation of the content item or the script may simply be associatedwith the content item and sent with the data to effect presentation ofthe content item. The script is configured to immediately output data toindicate if the content item is viewed on a display of a device. Thedata may include only data indicating that the content item is viewed ona display of a device or the data may also include one or moreviewability variables and/or other data. In some instances, the data maybe associated with a unique identifier, such as that for a content itemrequest to which the data to effect display of the content item isresponsive. In some implementations, the script may be configured todirectly determine whether the content item is viewed. In otherimplementations, the script may receive input from another script thatmonitors a viewable region with respect to the displayed resource andcontent item.

The script or the other script that monitors the viewable region maydetermine whether the content item is viewed based on data indicatingthat at least a predetermined percentage of the pixels of the contentitem is visible within a viewable region of the device to which the datato effect display of the selected content item is outputted, such asthat described above in reference to FIG. 3. In some implementations,the predetermined percentage of the pixels may be from 0% to 100%,inclusive. The predetermined percentage may be, for example 50% of thepixels. In some implementations, the determination that the content itemis viewed may also include a period of time for at least thepredetermined percentage of the pixels of the served content item to bewithin the viewable region, such as that described above in reference toFIG. 3. For example, period of time may be at least 0.5 seconds, 1second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds, 4 seconds, 5 seconds, etc. In one example,the period of time may be 1 second. In some implementations, thedetermination of whether a served content item is viewed may be basedupon data indicating that a measurement pixel is within the viewableregion, such as that described above in reference to FIG. 3. In someinstances, several measurement pixels may be utilized. In yet otherimplementations, regions of several pixels of the served content itemmay be utilized to determine whether the served content item is viewed,such as that described above in reference to FIG. 3. Of course, stillfurther implementations to determine whether the served content item hasbeen viewed relative to the viewable region may be used as well.

The content item selection system 108 receives data indicating whetherthe content item was viewed and data indicative of one or moreviewability variables (ACT 804). In some instances, the received dataindicating whether the content item was viewed may be the data outputtedby the script. In other instances, the content item selection system 108may receive data indicating that the content item was not viewed. Forexample, the content item selection system 108 may receive data ordetermine that the content item was not viewed if a predetermined periodof time elapses without receiving data indicating that the content itemwas viewed from the script associated with the content item. Thepredetermined period of time may be, for example, one hour, two hours,three hours, four hours, eight hours, 24 hours, a week, etc.

The data indicative of one or more viewability variables may be receivedas part of the data indicating whether the content item was viewed fromthe script or the data indicative of one or more viewability variablesmay be received from another source (e.g., another script, in responseto a request to a browser on which the content item is presented, etc.).

The data indicative of the one or more viewability variables may bebased on characteristics of the user device (e.g., a type of userdevice, a display type of a user device, dimensions of the display),characteristics of a web browser executed on the user device (e.g., atype of web browser), settings associated with the user device (e.g., adisplay resolution, whether third-party content item blocking servicesare implemented), settings associated with the web browser executed onthe user device (e.g., a height of a web browser window, a width of aweb browser window, a text size setting of the web browser of the userdevice, a font setting of the web browser, a zoom setting of the webbrowser, a dimension of one or more toolbar portions of the web browser,a dimension of one or more navigation and address portions of the webbrowser, a dimension of one or more bookmark portions of the webbrowser, a dimension of one or more tab portions of the web browser, anumber of tabs open in the web browser, a dimension of a scroll bar ofthe web browser), and/or characteristics of the resource with which thecontent item is to be presented (e.g., a position of the content itemslot in the resource, a category of the resource, a type of theresource, an interactivity level of the resource, a ranking of theresource, a popularity of the resource). The data indicating whether thecontent item was viewed and the one or more viewability variables arematched and stored, such as in the viewability database 160.

The content item selection system 108 may generate a view probabilitypredictive model based on the received data (ACT 806). The content itemselection system 108 may generate the view probability predictive modelusing logistic regression based on the received data, as described ingreater detail herein. The view probability predictive model may bestored, such as in the viewability database 160, and/or used by thecontent selection system 108 or output to another system.

FIG. 8B illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 850 to determinedata status. The method 800 can include transmitting, to a first clientcomputing device, an audio signal that can include a digital component(ACT 852). The method 800 can include determining a presentation statusof the digital component within the audio signal (ACT 854). The method800 can include receiving, from the first client computing device, firstpresentation variables (ACT 856). The method 800 can include generatinga presentation probability predictive model (ACT 858). The method 800can include receiving, from the first client computing device, secondpresentation variables and a request (ACT 860). The method 800 caninclude determining a presentation value for each of a plurality ofcandidate digital components (ACT 862). The method 800 can includeselecting a second digital component from the plurality of digitalcomponents based on a ranking of the candidate digital components (ACT864).

As set forth above, the method 800 can include transmitting, to a firstclient computing device, an audio signal comprising a digital component(ACT 852). The digital component can be transmitted to a clientcomputing device via the interface of the data processing system. Thedigital component can be included in an audio file that can betransmitted to the client computing device as a packetized auto signal.In some implementations, a copy of the digital component can betransmitted to a plurality of different client computing devices.

The method 800 can include determining a presentation status of thedigital component within the audio signal (ACT 854). The presentationstatus can indicate whether the digital component was presented via thefirst client computing device. In some implementations, the dataprocessing system can determine that the digital component was presentedwhen a midpoint of the digital component is played by a client computingdevice. For example, the digital component can have a known, totallength when audibly played by a speaker of a client device. The midpointcan be the total length of the digital component divided by two. Whenthe client device plays half of the digital component it can transmit anindication to the data processing system indicating that a flag of thepresentation status should be set indicating that the digital componentwas played. In some implementations, when non-midpoint locations of thedigital component are reached the digital component can be flagged ashaving been played by the client computing device. For example, thenon-midpoint locations can be located 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, or at 95%through the total length of the digital component. In otherimplementations, the client computing device transmits the indicationthat the digital component was played when 100% of the digital componentis played. In other implementations, the client computing device cantransmit the indication that the digital component was played as soon asthe client computing device begins to play the digital component.

The method 800 can include receiving, from the first client computingdevice, first presentation variables (ACT 856). The first presentationvariables can be also be referred to as viewability variables. The setof first presentation variables may be based on characteristics of theclient computing device (e.g., a type of user device, a display type ofa user device, speaker power of the user device), characteristics of anapplication executing on the user device (e.g., a type of web browser orassistant application), settings associated with the user device (e.g.,speaker quality, whether third-party content item blocking services areimplemented), and/or characteristics of the resource with which thedigital component to be presented (e.g., a position of the content itemslot in the resource, a category of the resource, a type of theresource, an interactivity level of the resource, a ranking of theresource, a popularity of the resource).

The method 800 can include generating a presentation probabilitypredictive model (ACT 858). The presentation probability predictionmodel can be generated by the prediction component of the dataprocessing system. The model can provide a probability that a futureserved digital component will be played via the speaker of the clientcomputing device to a user. The model can be based on the presentationstatus of the digital component and the first presentation variables. Asdiscussed above, the digital component can be transmitted to a pluralityof client computing devices. The model can also be based on thepresentations variables from the plurality of client computing device.The model can be based on a logistic regression of the prior receivedpresentation variables as discussed above.

The method 800 can include receiving, from the first client computingdevice, second presentation variables (ACT 860). The presentationvariables can be sent to the data processing system within an inputaudio signal. The input audio signal can also include a request and atrigger keyword. The data processing system can include a naturallanguage processor component that can receive the input audio signal.The natural language processor component can parse the input audiosignal into a request and a trigger keyword. In some implementations,the request and the trigger keyword can be recorded by a sensor at thesecond client computing device. The presentation variables can beincluded in the data packets transmitted from the second clientcomputing device to the data processing system with the input audiosignal. The presentation variables can include or be based on thetrigger keyword. For example, one presentation variable can be anestimated audio signal length that is associated with the triggerkeyword. For example, the estimated audio signal length to be relativelylonger for a trigger word that is likely to initiate a conversationbetween the client computing device and the service provider device. Insome implementations, the method can include selecting, by a contentselector component of the data processing system, one or more digitalcomponents based on the request and the trigger keywords include inputaudio signal. The content selector component can select a plurality ofdigital components that can fulfill the request. The plurality ofselected digital components can be referred to as candidate digitalcomponents.

The method 800 can include determining a presentation value for each ofthe plurality of candidate digital components (ACT 862). Thepresentation value for each of the candidate digital components can bebased the second presentation variables and the presentation probabilitypredictive model. In some implementations, the prediction component, candetermine a presentation value for each of the plurality of candidatedigital components that were selected to fulfill the request. Thepresentation value for each of the plurality of candidate digitalcomponents can be based the second presentation variables and thepresentation probability predictive model. The prediction component canrank each of the plurality of digital components based on the respectivepresentation values for each of the plurality of digital components. Insome implementations, the presentation value for each of the pluralityof candidate digital components can be based on a bid value associatedwith each of the can candidate digital components.

The method 800 can include selecting a second digital component fortransmission to the second client computing device (ACT 864). Thedigital component can be selected for transmission within a second audiosignal based on the presentation value being above a predeterminedthreshold value. The digital component may be selected based on anauction performed by the content item selection system. The content itemauction can include receiving bids from the content provider device. Thebid can be a bid to present the digital components provided by thecontent provider device for display on the client computing device. Theauction may include digital components and associated bids based onwhether the digital component is presented on the client computingdevice in part, presented on the client computing device in whole,whether a user performs a specific action based on the presentation ofthe digital component. The content item selection system can select thedigital component based on the bids provided by the content provideddevices and the presentation value. By way of example, an auction may bebetween a digital component having a bid based on whether the digitalcomponent is presented in full and a second digital component having abid based on whether the digital component is acted upon. A determinedprobability for the full presentation of the digital component may behigh, such as 0.8 (80%) while a predicted value of the digital componentbeing acted upon may be low, such as 0.05 (5%). If, for example, the bidbased on whether the content item is presented in full is $1.00, thenthe resulting determined value may be high, such as $0.80=0.8*$1.00. Ifthe bid based on whether the content item is acted upon is $5.00, thenthe resulting determined value may be low, such as $0.25=0.05*$5.00.Accordingly, the content item selection system can select the contentitem having the bid based on whether the content item is viewed in full.As illustrated, when the presentation value is included in the auctionselection, digital component associated with the higher bid ($5.00) isnot selected in favor of the digital component associated with the lowerbid ($1.00). Once a digital component is selected from the candidatedigital components, the interface of the data processing system (orservice provider device) can transmit data packets that include anoutput signal and the selected digital component to the client computingdevice.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a computer system 900 that can be used toimplement the client computing device 110, content item selection system108, content provider device 102, etc. The computing system 900 includesa bus 905 or other communication component for communicating informationand a processor 910 or processing module coupled to the bus 905 forprocessing information. The computing system 900 can also include one ormore processors 910 or processing modules coupled to the bus forprocessing information. The computing system 900 also includes mainmemory 915, such as a RAM or other dynamic storage device, coupled tothe bus 905 for storing information, and instructions to be executed bythe processor 910. Main memory 915 can also be used for storing positioninformation, temporary variables, or other intermediate informationduring execution of instructions by the processor 910. The computingsystem 900 may further include a ROM 920 or other static storage devicecoupled to the bus 905 for storing static information and instructionsfor the processor 910. A storage device 925, such as a solid statedevice, magnetic disk or optical disk, is coupled to the bus 905 forpersistently storing information and instructions. Computing device 900may include, but is not limited to, digital computers, such as laptops,desktops, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers, bladeservers, mainframes, cellular telephones, smart phones, mobile computingdevices (e.g., a notepad, e-reader, etc.) etc.

The computing system 900 may be coupled via the bus 905 to a display935, such as a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), Thin-Film-Transistor LCD(TFT), an Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) display, LED display,Electronic Paper display, Plasma Display Panel (PDP), and/or otherdisplay, etc., for displaying information to a user. An input device930, such as a keyboard including alphanumeric and other keys, may becoupled to the bus 905 for communicating information and commandselections to the processor 910. In another implementation, the inputdevice 930 may be integrated with the display 935, such as in a touchscreen display. The input device 930 can include a cursor control, suchas a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys, for communicatingdirection information and command selections to the processor 910 andfor controlling cursor movement on the display 935.

According to various implementations, the processes and/or methodsdescribed herein can be implemented by the computing system 900 inresponse to the processor 910 executing an arrangement of instructionscontained in main memory 915. Such instructions can be read into mainmemory 915 from another computer-readable medium, such as the storagedevice 925. Execution of the arrangement of instructions contained inmain memory 915 causes the computing system 900 to perform theillustrative processes and/or method steps described herein. One or moreprocessors in a multi-processing arrangement may also be employed toexecute the instructions contained in main memory 915. In alternativeimplementations, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or incombination with software instructions to effect illustrativeimplementations. Thus, implementations are not limited to any specificcombination of hardware circuitry and software.

Although an example computing system 900 has been described in FIG. 9,implementations of the subject matter and the functional operationsdescribed in this specification can be implemented in other types ofdigital electronic circuitry, or in computer software, firmware, orhardware, including the structures disclosed in this specification andtheir structural equivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them.

Implementations of the subject matter and the operations described inthis specification can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry,or in computer software embodied on a tangible medium, firmware, orhardware, including the structures disclosed in this specification andtheir structural equivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them.The subject matter described in this specification can be implemented asone or more computer programs, i.e., one or more modules of computerprogram instructions, encoded on one or more computer storage media forexecution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus.Alternatively, or in addition, the program instructions can be encodedon an artificially-generated propagated signal, e.g., amachine-generated electrical, optical, or electromagnetic signal that isgenerated to encode information for transmission to suitable receiverapparatus for execution by a data processing apparatus. A computerstorage medium can be, or be included in, a computer-readable storagedevice, a computer-readable storage substrate, a random or serial accessmemory array or device, or a combination of one or more of them.Moreover, while a computer storage medium is not a propagated signal, acomputer storage medium can be a source or destination of computerprogram instructions encoded in an artificially-generated propagatedsignal. The computer storage medium can also be, or be included in, oneor more separate components or media (e.g., multiple CDs, disks, orother storage devices). Accordingly, the computer storage medium is bothtangible and non-transitory.

The operations described in this specification can be performed by adata processing apparatus on data stored on one or morecomputer-readable storage devices or received from other sources.

The term “data processing apparatus” or “computing device” or“processing circuit” encompasses all kinds of apparatus, devices, andmachines for processing data, including by way of example a programmableprocessor, a computer, a system on a chip, or multiple ones, a portionof a programmed processor, or combinations of the foregoing. Theapparatus can include special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA oran ASIC. The apparatus can also include, in addition to hardware, codethat creates an execution environment for the computer program inquestion, e.g., code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocolstack, a database management system, an operating system, across-platform runtime environment, a virtual machine, or a combinationof one or more of them. The apparatus and execution environment canrealize various different computing model infrastructures, such as webservices, distributed computing and grid computing infrastructures.

A computer program (also known as a program, software, softwareapplication, script, or code) can be written in any form of programminglanguage, including compiled or interpreted languages, declarative orprocedural languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as astand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, object, orother unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computerprogram may, but need not, correspond to a file in a file system. Aprogram can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programsor data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup languagedocument), in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or inmultiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules,sub-programs, or portions of code). A computer program can be deployedto be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are locatedat one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by acommunication network.

Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, byway of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, andany one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, aprocessor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory ora random access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer area processor for performing actions in accordance with instructions andone or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Generally,a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive datafrom or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices forstoring data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks.However, a computer need not have such devices. Moreover, a computer canbe embedded in another device, e.g., a mobile telephone, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a mobile audio or video player, a game console,a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, or a portable storage device(e.g., a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive), to name just a few.Devices suitable for storing computer program instructions and datainclude all forms of non-volatile memory, media and memory devices,including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM,EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal harddisks or removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVDdisks. The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, orincorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.

To provide for interaction with a user, embodiments of the subjectmatter described in this specification can be implemented on a computerhaving a display device, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD monitor,for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointingdevice, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by which the user can provideinput to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide forinteraction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to theuser can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g., visual feedback,auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from the user can bereceived in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details,these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of what may beclaimed, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particularembodiments. Certain features described in this specification in thecontext of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combinationin a single implementation. Conversely, various features described inthe context of a single implementation can also be implemented inmultiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certaincombinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more featuresfrom a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from thecombination, and the claimed combination may be directed to asubcombination or variation of a subcombination.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particularorder, this should not be understood as requiring that such operationsbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various systemcomponents in the embodiments described above should not be understoodas requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should beunderstood that the described program components and systems cangenerally be integrated in a single software product or packaged intomultiple software products embodied on tangible media.

References to “or” may be construed as inclusive so that any termsdescribed using “or” may indicate any of a single, more than one, andall of the described terms.

Thus, particular embodiments of the subject matter have been described.Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. In somecases, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a differentorder and still achieve desirable results. In addition, the processesdepicted in the accompanying figures do not necessarily require theparticular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirableresults. In certain embodiments, multitasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous.

The claims should not be read as limited to the described order orelements unless stated to that effect. It should be understood thatvarious changes in form and detail may be made by one of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims. All embodiments that come within the spirit and scope of thefollowing claims and equivalents thereto are claimed.

1.-20. (canceled)
 21. A system to determine data status, the systemcomprising: a data processing system including a memory and one or moreprocessors to: transmit, to a first client computing device, a firstaudio signal comprising a digital component; determine a presentationstatus of the digital component within the first audio signal, thepresentation status indicating whether the digital component waspresented via the first client computing device; receive, from the firstclient computing device, first presentation variables; generate apresentation probability predictive model based on the presentationstatus of the digital component, the first presentation variables, and adata set comprising prior presentation statuses and prior presentationvariables determined for a plurality of client computing devicespreviously served an audio signal; receive, from the first clientcomputing device, a request and second presentation variables; determinea presentation value for each of a plurality of candidate digitalcomponents based on the second presentation variables and thepresentation probability predictive model; select a second digitalcomponent from the plurality of candidate digital components fortransmission to the first client computing device within a second audiosignal responsive a ranking of the presentation values for each of theplurality of candidate digital components.
 22. The system of claim 21,comprising a natural language processor component to: receive, from thefirst client computing device, an input audio signal, the input audiosignal detected by a sensor of the first client computing device; andparse the input audio signal into the request and a trigger keyword. 23.The system of claim 22, wherein the second presentation variables arebased on the trigger keyword and the request.
 24. The system of claim22, comprising a content selector component to: select the seconddigital component for transmission to the first client computing deviceresponsive the request and the trigger keyword.
 25. The system of claim21, comprising a prediction component to: determine the presentationvalue for each of a plurality of candidate digital components based onthe second presentation variables and the presentation probabilitypredictive model; rank the plurality of digital components based on therespective presentation values for each of the plurality of candidatedigital components; and select the second digital component from theplurality of candidate digital components based on the ranking of theplurality of digital components.
 26. The system of claim 21, wherein thepresentation status indicates whether a midpoint of the digitalcomponent was presented via the first client computing device.
 27. Thesystem of claim 21, comprising the data processing system to: determinethe presentation value for the digital component based on a bid value ofthe digital component.
 28. The system of claim 21, comprising: aninterface to transmit data packets comprising the second audio signal tothe first client computing device to cause an audio driver componentexecuted by the first client computing device to drive a speaker togenerate an accusative wave corresponding to the second audio signal.29. The system of claim 21, comprising the data processing system to:determine a first bid price and a first bid type of the second digitalcomponent; select a candidate digital component having a second bidprice greater than the first bid price and a second bid type; determinethe presentation value for the second digital component based on thesecond presentation variables, the presentation probability predictivemodel, the first bid price, and the first bid type; determine a secondvalue for the candidate digital component based on the secondpresentation variables, the presentation probability predictive mode,the second bid price and the second bid type; and select the seconddigital component for transmission to the first client computing deviceresponsive to the presentation value being higher than the secondpresentation value.
 30. The system of claim 21, wherein the presentationprobability predictive model determines a probability that the seconddigital component is played by the first client computing device past amidpoint of the digital component.
 31. A method to determine datastatus, the method comprising: transmitting, to a first client computingdevice, a first audio signal comprising a digital component; determininga presentation status of the digital component within the first audiosignal, the presentation status indicating whether the digital componentwas presented via the first client computing device; receiving, from thefirst client computing device, first presentation variables; generatinga presentation probability predictive model based on the presentationstatus of the digital component, the first presentation variables, and adata set comprising prior presentation statuses and prior presentationvariables determined for a plurality of client computing devicespreviously served an audio signal; receiving, from the first clientcomputing device, a request and second presentation variables;determining a presentation value for each of a plurality of candidatedigital components based on the second presentation variables and thepresentation probability predictive model; selecting a second digitalcomponent from the plurality of candidate digital components fortransmission to the first client computing device within a second audiosignal responsive a ranking of the presentation values for each of theplurality of candidate digital components.
 32. The method of claim 31,comprising: receiving, from the first client computing device and by thenatural language processor component, an input audio signal, the inputaudio signal detected by a sensor of the first client computing device;and parsing, by the natural language processor component, the inputaudio signal into the request and a trigger keyword.
 33. The method ofclaim 32, wherein the second presentation variables are based on thetrigger keyword and the request.
 34. The method of claim 32, comprising:selecting, by a content selector component, the second digital componentfor transmission to the first client computing device responsive therequest and the trigger keyword.
 35. The method of claim 31, comprising:determining, by a prediction component, the presentation value for eachof the plurality of candidate digital components based on the secondpresentation variables and the presentation probability predictivemodel; ranking, by the prediction component, the plurality of candidatedigital components based on the respective presentation values for eachof the plurality of candidate digital components; and selecting, by theprediction component, the second digital component from the plurality ofcandidate digital components based on the ranking of the plurality ofcandidate digital components.
 36. The method of claim 31, wherein thepresentation status indicates whether a midpoint of the digitalcomponent was presented via the first client computing device.
 37. Themethod of claim 31, comprising: determining the presentation value forthe second digital component based on a bid value of the digitalcomponent.
 38. The method of claim 31, comprising: transmitting datapackets comprising the second audio signal to the first client computingdevice to cause an audio driver component executed by the first clientcomputing device to drive a speaker to generate an accusative wavecorresponding to the second audio signal.
 39. The method of claim 31,comprising: determining a first bid price and a first bid type of thesecond digital component; selecting a candidate digital component havinga second bid price greater than the first bid price and a second bidtype; determining the presentation value for the second digitalcomponent based on the second presentation variables, the presentationprobability predictive model, the first bid price, and the first bidtype; determining a second value for the candidate digital componentbased on the second presentation variables, the presentation probabilitypredictive mode, the second bid price and the second bid type; andselecting the second digital component for transmission to the firstclient computing device responsive to the presentation value beinghigher than the second presentation value.
 40. The method of claim 31,wherein the presentation probability predictive model determines aprobability that the second digital component is played by the firstclient computing device past a midpoint of the digital component.